Network facsimile system

ABSTRACT

A network facsimile system has a communication terminal and relaying server. The network facsimile system is configured such that the communication terminal can transmit an image, through the relaying server, to a destination terminal outside the network facsimile system, that the communication terminal transmits an image to the relaying server in accordance with a predetermined communication protocol. The relaying server transmits an image to the destination terminal in accordance with a facsimile communication protocol. The communication terminal includes a notification system that notifies a user of the communication terminal of an operation status information indicating an operation status of the network facsimile system during a relaying server side operation period.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No.2004-054216, filed on Feb. 27, 2004, the entire subject matters of theapplication are incorporated herein by reference thereto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

Aspects of the present invention relate to a network facsimile systemthat transmits/received images to/from an external device in accordancewith a facsimile data transmission protocol.

2. Related Art

Conventionally, a facsimile system in which a facsimile image istransmitted from an origin station to a destination station via arelaying server has been known. In such a system, the relaying serverreceives the facsimile image from the origin station and transmits thesame to the destination station.

United States Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2002/0069254 A1discloses a method for an e-mail transmission control. According to thispublication, the server receives an e-mail message transmitted from anorigin station. The e-mail message contains a telephone number of thedestination, and the server identifies the e-mail address of thedestination based on the telephone number and transfer the e-mailmessage to the destination. Therefore, even if a user at the originstation does not know the entail address of the destination, the e-mailmessage can be sent to the destination. Thus, when a facsimile image istransmitted as an attachment of the e-mail message, the user at theorigin station can send the facsimile image with the disclosed systemsimilarly to a case where a normal facsimile machine is used.

United States Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2003/0048484 A1discloses a facsimile machine capable of transmitting an e-mail messagecontaining information regarding transmission/reception/transfer of afacsimile transmission. According to the facsimile machine as disclosed,the information regarding the transmission of the facsimile image can benotified to a user. Therefore, the user can take necessary steps inconnection with the facsimile transmission.

When a facsimile transmission is performed between two facsimilemachines through a telephone line, a transmission condition is generallyindicated on a display of each facsimile machine. For example, on thetransmitting side facsimile machine, messages such as “dialing”,“transmitting”, “transmission completed” or “transmission error” aredisplayed depending on the current transmission status. Further, if thefacsimile machine has a redialing function, a status “redial standbystate” or “redialing” may be displayed. On the destination facsimilemachine, a message “receiving”, “reception completed” or “reception(transmission) error” is displayed, depending on the current status ofthe facsimile machine.

According to the conventional network facsimile system described above,that is, the facsimile image is transmitted by e-mail through therelaying server, the following deficiencies arise. Firstly, the user atthe origin station can know the transmission status from the origincommunication terminal to the relaying server, but cannot know thestatus from the relaying server to the destination station in real time.Secondly, the user of the destination station can know the transmissionstatus from the relaying server to the destination communicationterminal, but cannot know the status from the origin station to therelaying server in real time. Therefore, even if the transmission fromthe origin station to the relaying server is completed successfully,there could be a case where an error occurs in the transmission from therelaying server to the destination station. In such a case, the user ofthe origin station may note not realize the occurrence of the error,which would not occur in the normal facsimile system. Further, when anerror occurs in the transmission from the relaying server to thedestination, it is recognized by the user of the destination station.However, if an error occurs in the transmission from the origin stationto the relaying server, the user of the destination station would notknow the attempt of transmission directed to the destination station,which would not occur in the normal facsimile system.

As above, according to the conventional network facsimile system, theusers need to take the existence of the relaying server into accountwhen transmitting facsimile images.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the present invention are advantageous in that, in a networkfacsimile system employing a relaying server through which facsimileimages are transmitted from an origin station to a destination station,“transparency” of the relaying server can be realized. Thus, users ofthe origin station and the destination station can use the networkfacsimile system as a normal facsimile system using the facsimilemachines connected through the telephone line. These and other aspectsof the invention are described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an entire configuration of a networkfacsimile system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system ofthe network facsimile device shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with aspectsof the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control system ofa facsimile relaying server shown in FIG. 1 in accordance with aspectsof the present invention.

FIGS. 4 through 7 show a flowchart illustrating a network facsimile sidetransmission procedure executed in the network facsimile device inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a flowchart illustrating a facsimile relaying serverside transmission procedure in accordance with aspects of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show a flowchart illustrating a network facsimile sidereception procedure in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 12 shows a facsimile relaying side reception procedure inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 13 shows a flowchart illustrating a registered informationtransmitting procedure executed in the network facsimile device inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart illustrating a registered informationtransmitting procedure executed in the facsimile relaying server inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart showing an updating procedure at a time ofcheck-in of a user in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart showing an updating procedure at a time ofcheck out of the user in accordance with aspects of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 17A-17C show tables managed by the facsimile relaying server inaccordance with aspects of the present invention

FIG. 18 shows an example of an e-mail message for a facsimiletransmission in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 19 shows an example of notifying a completion of a facsimiletransmission in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 20 shows a configuration of a managed information base fornotifying the completion of a facsimile transmission in accordance withaspects of the present invention.

FIG. 21 shows an example of data to UDP broadcast room number and IPaddress for a user in accordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 22 shows a flowchart illustrating a reception procedure executed bya network facsimile device according to a second embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 23 shows a flowchart illustrating a reception procedure executed bya facsimile relaying server in accordance with aspects of the presentinvention.

FIG. 24 is a timing chart showing progression of facsimile transmittingprocedures according to a third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 25 shows a flowchart illustrating a procedure executed by a taskserving as an SMTP reception module in accordance with aspects of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 26 and 27 show a flowchart illustrating a procedure executed by atask serving as a facsimile communication management module inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

FIG. 28 shows an example of a transmission management report inaccordance with aspects of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

General Overview of Aspects of the Invention

The following describes general aspects of the invention that may or maynor be included in various embodiments. Also, it is noted that variousconnections are set forth between elements in the following descriptionIt is noted that these connections in general and, unless specifiedotherwise, may be direct or indirect and that this specification is notintended to be limiting in this respect.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provide acommunication terminal for a network facsimile system having thecommunication terminal and relaying server, the network facsimile systembeing configured such that the communication terminal is capable oftransmitting an image, through the relaying server, to a destinationterminal which is outside the network facsimile system, that thecommunication terminal transmits an image to the relaying server inaccordance with a predetermined communication protocol, and that therelaying server transmits an image to the destination terminal inaccordance with a facsimile communication protocol. The communicationterminal is provided with a notification system that notifies a user ofthe communication terminal of an operation status information indicatingan operation status of the network facsimile system during a relayingserver side operation period. The relay server side operation period isdefined as a period after an image transmission from the communicationterminal to the relaying server has finished and before the end oftransmission of the image from the relaying server to the destinationterminal outside the network facsimile system.

Optionally, the notification system may be configured to notify the userof the communication terminal of the operation status information duringa communication terminal side operation period. The communicationterminal server side operation period is a period after thecommunication terminal receives an image transmission instruction givenby the user of the communication terminal till the communicationterminal finishes transmitting the image data to the relaying server inaccordance with the predetermined communication protocol.

The communication terminal may further include a status data obtainingsystem that obtains status data indicative of the operational status ofthe relaying server from the relaying server, and the notificationsystem may be configured to notify the user of the communicationterminal of the operation status information based on the operationaldata obtained by the status data obtaining system during the relayingserver side operation period.

Further optionally, the notification system may notify the user of thecommunication terminal of the operation status of the communicationterminal as the operation status information during a communicationterminal side operation period. The communication terminal sideoperation period is a period after the communication terminal acquiresthe image transmission instruction given by the user of thecommunication terminal till the communication terminal finishestransmitting the image data to the relaying serer in accordance with thepredetermined communication protocol.

Optionally, the communication may further include a facsimile-mailcreating system that creates a facsimile-mail message that is an e-mailmessage including image data to be transmitted, and a facsimile-mailtransmitting system that transmits the facsimile-mail message, which iscreated by the facsimile-mail creating system, to the relaying server.Further, the image may be transmitted to the relaying server by e-mail,the relaying server including a facsimile-mail receiving system thatreceives the facsimile-mail transmitted from the communication terminal,a facsimile data creating system that creates facsimile data to betransmitted in accordance with a facsimile communication protocol basedon the image data included in the facsimile-mail received by thefacsimile-mail receiving system, and a facsimile data transmittingsystem that transmits the facsimile data created by the facsimile datacreating system to the destination outside the network facsimile systemin accordance with the facsimile communication protocol.

Still optionally, the communication terminal may further include astatus notification mail receiving system that receives a statusnotification mail which is an e-mail message containing the status datawhen the status notification mail is transmitted form the relayingserver to the communication terminal. The status data obtaining systemmay obtain the status data contained in the status notification mailwhen the origin of the status notification mail received by the statusnotification mail receiving system is the relaying server that hastransmitted the facsimile-mail using the facsimile-mail transmittingsystem.

In a particular case, the facsimile-mail creating system may create thefacsimile mail that includes information based on which the relayingserver obtains the telephone number of the destination outside thenetwork facsimile system, and the status data obtaining system mayobtain the status data contained in the status notification mail whenthe destination data is included in the status notification mailreceived by the status notification mail receiving system.

Further optionally, the communication terminal may further include astatus notification packet receiving system that receives a statusnotification packet which is packet containing the status data when thestatus notification packet is transmitted form the relaying server tothe communication terminal. In this case, the status data obtainingsystem may obtain the status data contained in the status notificationpacket when the origin of the status notification packet received by thestatus notification packet receiving system is the relaying server thathas transmitted the facsimile-mail using the facsimile-mail transmittingsystem.

Particularly, the facsimile-mail creating system may create thefacsimile-mail that includes information based on which the relayingserver obtains the telephone number of the destination outside thenetwork facsimile system, and the status data obtaining system may beconfigured to obtain the status data contained in the statusnotification packet when the destination data is included in the statusnotification packet received by the status notification packet receivingsystem.

Still optionally, the notification system may finish notifying theoperation status information after notifying the user of thecommunication terminal of the transmission completion informationindicating that a transmitting procedure by the network facsimile systemhas been finished as the operation status information when the relayingserver has finished transmitting the facsimile data based on the statusdata obtained by the status data obtaining system.

Further, the notification system may notify of the transmissioncompletion information with a form indicating whether the transmissionof the facsimile data by the relaying server was succeeded or failed.

The communication terminal may further include a communication resultstoring system that stores a communication result including at least oneof a communication time, a number of transmitted pages and acommunication mode regarding the transmission of the facsimile data fromthe relaying server to the destination outside the network facsimilesystem when it is determined that the relaying server has finishedtransmitting the facsimile data, based on the status data obtained bythe status data obtaining system.

Optionally, the notification system may notify the user of thecommunication terminal of a redial stand-by information indicating therelaying system is in a standby state for redialing when it isdetermined, based on the status data obtained by the status dataobtaining system, that the relaying server is in the redial standbystate.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided arelaying server for a network facsimile system having a communicationterminal and the relaying server, the network facsimile system beingconfigured such that the communication terminal is capable oftransmitting an image, through the relaying server, to a destinationterminal which is outside the network facsimile system, that thecommunication terminal transmits an image to the relaying server inaccordance with a predetermined communication protocol, and that therelaying server transmits an image to the destination terminal inaccordance with a facsimile communication protocol. The relaying servermay include a status data transmitting system that transmits status dataindicating an operational status of the relaying server in a relayingserver side operation period. Relaying server side operation period is aperiod after an image transmission from the communication terminal tothe relaying server has finished and before the end of transmission ofthe image from the relaying server to the destination terminal outsidethe network facsimile system.

Optionally, the relaying server may further include a facsimile-mailreceiving system that receives a facsimile-mail message which is ane-mail message including image data to be transmitted, a facsimile datacreating system that creates facsimile data used for transmitting theimage in accordance with a facsimile communication protocol based on theimage data contained in the facsimile-mail received by thefacsimile-mail receiving system, and a facsimile data transmittingsystem that transmits the facsimile data created by the facsimile datacrating system to a destination outside the network facsimile system.The facsimile-mail receiving system may be configured to receive theimage transmitted from the communication terminal, which is providedwith a facsimile-mail crating system and a facsimile-mail transmittingsystem that transmits the facsimile-mail created by the facsimile mailcreating system to the relaying server in accordance with an e-mailcommunication protocol.

In a particular case, the relaying server may further include an originextracting system that extracts an e-mail address of an origin containedin the facsimile-mail received by the facsimile-mail receiving system,the status data transmitting system transmitting a status notificationmail containing the status data to the e-mail address extracted by theorigin extracting system.

The relaying server may further include a network address obtainingsystem that extracts an e-nail address contained in the facsimile-mailreceived by the facsimile-mail receiving system and obtains a networkaddress of the origin based on the extracted e-mail address, the statusdata transmitting system transmitting a status notification packetcontaining the status data to the network address obtained by thenetwork address obtaining system.

Further optionally, the relaying server may include a destination dataextracting system that extracts destination data related to a telephonenumber of the destination outside the network facsimile system from thefacsimile-mail received by the facsimile-mail receiving system, thestatus data transmitting system transmitting the status data includingthe destination data extracted by the destination data extractingsystem.

Still optionally, the status data transmitting system may transmitstatus data indicating whether transmission of the facsimile data by therelaying server has been succeeded or failed.

Further optionally, the status data transmitting system may transmit oneof a communication time, a number of transmitted pages and acommunication mode regarding the transmission of the facsimile data tothe destination outside the network facsimile system from the relayingserver when the transmission of the facsimile data has been completed.

Furthermore, the status data transmitting system may transmit the statusdata indicating that the relaying server operates in a redialing standbystate when the relaying server operates in the redial standby state.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided acommunication terminal employed in a network facsimile system which isconfigured such that an image transmitted from an origin outside thenetwork facsimile system is received by a relaying server, the relayingserver being capable of transmitting the image to the communicationterminal, the image being transmitted from the origin outside thenetwork facsimile system to the relaying server in accordance with afacsimile communication protocol, the image being transmitted from therelaying server to the communication terminal in accordance with apredetermined communication protocol. The communication terminal may beprovided with a notification system the notifies a user of thecommunication terminal of operation status information indicating anoperation status of the network facsimile system during a relayingserver side operation period. The relaying server side operation periodis a period from a start of image transmission from the origin outsidethe network facsimile system to the relaying server and beforetransmission of the image from the relaying server to the communicationterminal.

Optionally, the notification system may be configured to notify the userof the communication terminal of the operation status information duringa communication terminal side operation period. The communicationterminal side operation period is a period from a start of imagetransmission form the relaying server to the communication terminal toan end of the image transmission from the relaying server to thecommunication terminal.

Further, the communication terminal may include a status data obtainingsystem that obtains status data indicating an operational status of therelaying server from the relaying server. The notification system maynotify the user of the communication terminal of the operation statusinformation during the relaying server operation period bases on thestatus data obtained by the status data obtaining system.

In a particular case, during the relaying sever side operation period,the notification system may notify the user of the communicationterminal of the operational status of the relaying server as theoperation status information based on the status data obtained by thestatus data obtaining system, and during a communication terminal sideoperation period. The communication terminal side operation period is aperiod from a start of image transmission from the relaying server tothe communication terminal to an end of the image transmission from therelaying server to the communication terminal, the notification systemmay notify the user of the communication terminal of the operationalstatus of the communication terminal as the operation statusinformation.

Optionally, the communication terminal may further include an image datareceiving system, and an image data processing system that processes theimage data received by the image data receiving system to one of printand store in a memory. The image data receiving system may receive theimage data transmitted from the relaying server which is provided with afacsimile data receiving system that receives the facsimile datatransmitted from the origin outside the network facsimile system, animage data creating system that creates image data representing theimage, and an image data transmitting system that transmits the imagedata created by the image data creating system.

Further optionally, the notification system may notify the user of thecommunication terminal of a reception unfinished information indicatingthat reception of the facsimile data has been finished before completionof reception when the status data obtaining system obtains the statusdata indicating that the reception of the facsimile data has beenfinished before completion of reception.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided arelaying server employed in a network facsimile system which isconfigured such that an image transmitted from an origin outside thenetwork facsimile system is received by the relaying server, therelaying server being capable of transmitting the image to acommunication terminal, the image being transmitted from the originoutside the network facsimile system to the relaying server inaccordance with a facsimile communication protocol, the image beingtransmitted from the relaying server to the communication terminal inaccordance with a predetermined communication protocol. The relayingserver may include a status data transmitting system that transmitsstatus data indicating an operational status of the relaying server tothe communication terminal during a relaying server side operationperiod. The relaying server side operation period is a period from astart of image transmission from the origin outside the networkfacsimile system to the relaying server and before a start of imagetransmission from the relaying server to the communication terminal.

Optionally, the status data transmitting system may transmit a statusnotification mail containing the status data to an e-mail addressassigned to the communication terminal.

Further optionally, the status data transmitting system may transmit astatus notifying packet containing the status data to a network addressassigned to the communication terminal.

Furthermore, the relaying server may include a facsimile data receivingsystem that receives facsimile data representing an image to betransmitted, an image data creating system that creates image datarepresenting the image to be transmitted based on the facsimile datareceived by the facsimile data receiving system, and an image datatransmitting system that transmits the image data created by the imagedata creating system. The image data transmitting system may transmitthe image data to the communication terminal which is provided with animage data receiving system that receives the image data transmittedfrom the relaying server and image data processing system that processesthe image data received by the image data receiving system to one ofprint and store in a memory.

Optionally, when reception of the facsimile data has been finishedbefore completion of the reception, the image data creating system maycreate a partial image data representing a partial image correspondingto a received portion of the facsimile data. In this case, the imagedata transmitting system may transmit the partial image data created bythe image data creating system, and the status data transmitting systemmay transmit the status data indicating that the reception of thefacsimile data has been finished before completion of reception to thecommunication terminal.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided acomputer program product having instructions executed by a communicationterminal for a network facsimile system having the communicationterminal and relaying server, the network facsimile system beingconfigured such that the communication terminal is capable oftransmitting an image, through the relaying server, to a destinationterminal which is outside the network facsimile system, that thecommunication terminal transmits an image to the relaying server inaccordance with a predetermined communication protocol, and that therelaying server transmits an image to the destination terminal inaccordance with a facsimile communication protocol. The computer programproduct may further include an instruction to cause the communicationterminal to execute a notifying process for notifying a user of thecommunication terminal of an operation status information indicating anoperation status of the network facsimile system during a relayingserver side operation period. The relaying server side operation periodis a period after an image transmission from the communication terminalto the relaying server has finished and before the end of transmissionof the image from the relaying server to the destination terminaloutside the network facsimile system.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided acomputer program product having instructions to be executed by arelaying server for a network facsimile system having a communicationterminal and the relaying server, the network facsimile system beingconfigured such that the communication terminal is capable oftransmitting an image, through the relaying server, to a destinationterminal which is outside the network facsimile system, that thecommunication terminal transmits an image to the relaying server inaccordance with a predetermined communication protocol, and that therelaying server transmits an image to the destination terminal inaccordance with a facsimile communication protocol. The computer programproduct may further include an instruction that causes the relayingserver to execute a status data transmitting process that transmitsstatus data indicating an operational status of the relaying server in arelaying server side operation period. The relaying server sideoperation period is a period after an image transmission from thecommunication terminal to the relaying server has finished and beforethe end of transmission of the image from the relaying server to thedestination terminal outside the network facsimile system.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided acomputer program product having instructions to be executed by acommunication terminal employed in a network facsimile system which isconfigured such that an image transmitted from an origin outside thenetwork facsimile system is received by a relaying server, the relayingserver being capable of transmitting the image to the communicationterminal, the image being transmitted from the origin outside thenetwork facsimile system to the relaying server in accordance with afacsimile communication protocol, the image being transmitted from therelaying server to the communication terminal in accordance with apredetermined communication protocol. The computer program product mayinclude an instruction that causes the communication terminal to executea notifying process that notifies a user of the communication terminalof operation status information indicating an operation status of thenetwork facsimile system during a relaying server side operation period.The relaying server side operation period is defined as a period from astart of image transmission from the origin outside the networkfacsimile system to the relaying server and before transmission of theimage from the relaying server to the communication terminal.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided acomputer program product comprising instructions to be executed by arelaying server employed in a network facsimile system which isconfigured such that an image transmitted from an origin outside thenetwork facsimile system is received by the relaying server, therelaying server being capable of transmitting the image to acommunication terminal, the image being transmitted from the originoutside the network facsimile system to the relaying server inaccordance with a facsimile communication protocol, the image beingtransmitted from the relaying server to the communication terminal inaccordance with a predetermined communication protocol. The computerprogram product may further include an instruction that causes therelaying server comprising to execute a status data transmitting processthat transmits status data indicating an operational status of therelaying server to the communication terminal during a relaying serverside operation period. The relaying server side operation period is aperiod from a start of image transmission from the origin outside thenetwork facsimile system to the relaying server and before a start ofimage transmission from the relaying server to the communicationterminal.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided anetwork facsimile system having a communication terminal and relayingserver, the network facsimile system being configured such that thecommunication terminal is capable of transmitting an image, through therelaying server, to a destination terminal which is outside the networkfacsimile system, that the communication terminal transmits an image tothe relaying server in accordance with a predetermined communicationprotocol, and that the relaying server transmits an image to thedestination terminal in accordance with a facsimile communicationprotocol. The communication terminal may include a notification systemthat notifies a user of the communication terminal of an operationstatus information indicating an operation status of the networkfacsimile system during a relaying server side operation period. Therelaying server side operation period is a period after an imagetransmission from the communication terminal to the relaying server hasfinished and before the end of transmission of the image from therelaying server to the destination terminal outside the networkfacsimile system

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided anetwork facsimile system which is configured such that an imagetransmitted from an origin outside the network facsimile system isreceived by a relaying server, the relaying server being capable oftransmitting the image to a communication terminal, the image beingtransmitted from the origin outside the network facsimile system to therelaying server in accordance with a facsimile communication protocol,the image being transmitted from the relaying server to thecommunication terminal in accordance with a predetermined communicationprotocol. In this case, the communication terminal may include anotification system the notifies a user of the communication terminal ofoperation status information indicating an operation status of thenetwork facsimile system during a relaying server side operation period.The relaying server side operation period is a period from a start ofimage transmission from the origin outside the network facsimile systemto the relaying server and before transmission of the image from therelaying server to the communication terminal.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings, embodiments of the presentinvention will be described in detail.

First Embodiment

A network facsimile system according to a first embodiment will bedescribed. The network facsimile system is a system employed in a hotelhaving a plurality of rooms. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an entireconfiguration of the network facsimile system

As shown in FIG. 1, in the hotel, a facsimile relaying server 1(hereinafter, referred to as a FAX relaying server), network facsimiledevices 2 and 3 are provided and are connected through a LAN (Local AreaNetwork) 4 to constitute the network facsimiles system.

The FAX relaying server 1 is connected with a PSTN (public switchedtelephone networks) 6. Accordingly, the FAX relaying serer 1 is capableof transmitting/receiving images to/from a facsimile machine (e.g., G3facsimile machines 7 and 8) outside the network facsimile system.

It should be noted that there are a plurality of network facsimiledevices, which are implemented in hotel rooms one for each. Since theyhave functionally the same, only two network facsimile devices 2 and 3are shown in FIG. 1 for the brevity.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the control systemof the network facsimile device 2 (or 3). Since the network facsimiledevices 2 and 3 have the same configuration, only the network facsimiledevice 2 will be described. The description applies the networkfacsimile device 3 and other network facsimile devices (not shown)included in the network facsimile system.

The network facsimile device 2 includes a CPU 21 that controls an entireoperation of the network facsimile device 2, a ROM 22 for storingvarious pieces of data, and a RAM 23 for temporarily storing varioustypes of data dynamically generated during operation of the networkfacsimile device 2. The network facsimile device 2 further includes aMODEM 24 that converts digital data such as a facsimile image toanalogue signal, and vice versa, a scanner 31 for capturing an image tobe transmitted on an original, a printer 32 for printing an image, anoperation panel 33 that is operated by a user when the user inputscommands to the network facsimile device 2. In the embodiment, the userwho operates the operation panel 33 may be a user of a hotel room inwhich the network facsimile device 2 is implemented. The networkfacsimile device 2 is further provided with an LCD 34 capable ofdisplaying messages and other visual information, a PC interface 35 suchas a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port, an encoder 41 that encodes imagedata in accordance with a predetermined encoding method such as MWMR/MMRetc., and a decoder 42 that decodes the image data which has beenencoded with the predetermined encoding method. The network facsimiledevice 2 further includes an LCU (Line Control Unit) 43 that controlscommunication through the PSTN 6, and a LAN control memory 44 forstoring data necessary for communicating through the LAN 4. Further, thenetwork facsimile device 2 includes an SNMP (Simple Network ManagementProtocol) control unit 45 that executes transmission/reception controlin accordance with the SNMP and receives data indicative of operationalstatus of the FAX relaying server 1, an SMTP (Simple Mail TransferProtocol) reception control unit 46 that executes a mail receivingcontrol in accordance with the SMTP to receive e-mail messages from theFAX relaying server 1, a mail transmission control unit 47 that executesa mail transmission control to transmits e-mail messages to the FAXrelaying server 1, and a LAN control unit 48 that executes acommunication control through the LAN 4.

It should be noted that network facsimile devices 2 and 3 are notdedicated devices which are used only as the network devices, but aregeneral purpose devices which can also be used as normal facsimilemachines that transmit/receive images through the PSTN 6. That is whythe network facsimile device 2 (3) is provided with the MODEM 24 and LCU43 and is configured to be connectable with the PSTN 6 (as indicated bybroken line in FIG. 2).

When the network device 2 (3) is used as a communication device in thenetwork facsimile system, it is unnecessary to connect the networkfacsimile device 2 with the PSTN 6. Therefore, according to theembodiment, the network facsimile devices 2 and 3 are connected only tothe LAN 4, and are not connected with the PSTN 6. Accordingly, in eachhotel room, equipment for connecting the network facsimile device 2 (3)to the PSTN need not be introduced.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the FAXrelaying sever 1.

The FAX relaying server 1 includes a personal computer (or aworkstation), which is provided with a control unit having CPU, ROM andRAM, an input unit having a keyboard and pointing device, an output unithaving a display, a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), anetwork I/F for connection with the LAN 4, other hardware including aMODEM for connection with the PSTN 6 and software including OS(Operating System) and various application programs. With combinationsof the units, hardware and software above, an SMTP receiving module 51,a FAX communication management module 52, an SMTP transmission module53, a table management module 54, an operation IF management module 55,a UDP communication module 56, and SNMP transmission module 57 areconfigured. The storage device of the FAX relaying server stores a groupof files including transmission/reception data DB 61, management table62, and the Like.

The SMTP receiving module 51 executes a mail receiving control inaccordance with the SMW and receives e-mails messages from the mailtransmission control unit 47 of the network facsimile device 2 (3). Thee-mail messages as received are stored in the transmitted/received dataDB 61.

The FAX communication management module 52 converts an image representedby image data contained in the e-mail message, which is received fromthe network facsimile device 2 (3) and stored in thetransmitted/received data DB 61, to facsimile data which is transmittedin accordance with the facsimile communication protocol. Then, the FAXcommunication management module 52 transmits the converted data (i.e.,the facsimile data) to the PSTN 6. Further, the FAX communicationmanagement module 52 converts the image represented by the facsimiledata received through the PSTN 6 into image data which can be processedby the network facsimile device 2 (3) and stores the converted imagedata in the transmitted/received data DB 61.

The SMTP transmission module 53 transmits an e-mail message to which theimage data, which has been received through the PSTN 6 and stored in thetransmitted/received data DB 61, is attached as an attached file to thenetwork facsimile device 2 (3).

The table management module 54 executes management such as recording orupdating data of various tables (e.g., e-mail address management table,telephone operating status table, check-in management table etc.) storedin the management table 62.

The operation IF management module 55 provides the table managementmodule 54 with instruction to update data corresponding to operationsperformed by a system administrator (e.g., a clerk of the hotel), whenshe/he operates an operation unit of the FAX relaying server 1 toexecute a predetermined operation (e.g., operation corresponding tocheck-in, checkout, etc. which will be described in detail later).

The UDP communication module 56 is an interface for a packetcommunication with the network facsimile device 2 (3) in accordance withthe UDP (User Datagram Protocol). In this embodiment, the UDPcommunication module 56 is used to affect settings of e-mail typecommunication among the network facsimile devices 2, 3, . . .

The SNMP transmitting module 57 transmits the operational status in theFAX relaying server 1 to the network facsimile device 2 (3).

With the above configuration, data communication according to the UDP,data communication according to the SNMP and data communication usingthe e-mail messages are executed between the FAX relaying server 1 andthe network facsimile device 2 (3) depending on the type and/or size ofthe data to be transmitted and depending on the operational status ofrespective devices/modules.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, each of the FAX relayingserver 1 and the network facsimile device 2 (3) has a function of themail client and the SMTP server. When one of the FAX relaying server 1and the network facsimile device 2 (3) functions as the mail client, theother functions as the SMTP server, thereby the data communication usingthe e-mail messages, which are sent from one to the other, beingrealized.

The data communication using the e-mail message should not be limited inthe manner described above, but can be realized in another way, which isleft to the user's discretion. For example, as a protocol for exchanginge-mail messages between the mail client and server, a POP (Post OfficeProtocol) is also known besides the SMTP. Therefore, if one of the FAXrelaying server 1 or the network facsimile device 2 (3) has a POP serverfunction and the other has a mail client function, it is possible torealize the data communication using the e-mail messages since the mailclient can extract an e-mail message from a mail box of the POP server.Alternatively, an PMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) may be usedinstead of the POP.

The protocol to be used one an e-mail message is transmitted from theFAX relaying server 1 to the network facsimile device 2 (3) or oppositecan be arbitrarily selected. Therefore, in both direction, the SMTP orPOP can be used. Alternatively, the SMTP is used in one direction, whilethe POP is used in the opposite direction. Therefore, it is possible toconfigure the network facsimile system such that only one of the FAXrelaying server 1 and the network facsimile device 2 (3) has both theSMTP server function and the POP server functions, and the other of FAXrelaying server 1 and the network facsimile device 2 (3) has only themail client function.

In the above examples, the FAX relaying server 1 and the networkfacsimile device 2 (3) is provided with the SMTP server function or thePOP server function. Alternatively, if some server computers with whichthe FAX relaying server and the network facsimile device 2 (3) cancommunicate through the LAN 4 are provided, and the SMTP server and thePOP server are implemented therein, only by providing the FAX relayingserver 1 and the network facsimile device 2 (3) with the mail clientfunction, the data communication using the entail message can berealized through the SMTP server and the POP server.

That is, in the embodiment, only the nodded indispensable for describingthe characteristics of the present system are indicated for the brevity.However, as indicated above, by constituting a well-known decenterizeddata processing system using a plurality of personal computers withwhich the FAX relaying server and the network facsimile device 2 (3) cancommunicate, the functions provided by the FAX relaying server and thenetwork facsimile device 2 (3) can be provided by other servercomputers.

It should be noted that some functions may be implemented in the FAXrelaying server 1 or other server computers connected to the LAN 4.Examples of such functions include a DHCP (Dynamic Host ConfigurationProtocol) server function that assigns IP address to the FAX relayingserver 1 and network facsimile device 2 (3), and a name server functionthat converts the mail address (domain name) used in the e-mail messageto a network address as well as the SMTP server function and POP serverfunction as indicated above. Since the DHCP server function and the nameserver function are not the essential portion of the present invention,the following description is made on assumption that the IP address ofeach device is assigned by the DHCP server (not shown) or manuallyassigned by the system administrator, and the name server function isprovide in the LAN 4 and can be used whenever necessary.

Next, the operation of the network facsimile system according to theembodiment will be described. In the description below, it is assumedthat the FAX relaying server 1 uses “FAX_SERVER@br.co.jp” as its e-mailaddress, the FAX relaying server 1 is capable of using a plurality oflines as connection lines to the PSTN 6, and when the PSTN 6 is used, aplurality of telephone numbers including “052-123-4567” and“052876-5432” are used.

It is further assumed that the network facsimile device 2 uses the FAXrelaying server 1 as the SMTP server for transmitting entail. Thenetwork facsimile device 2 stores e-mail addresses “IFAX1@br.co.jp” asits own e-mail address and “FAX_SERVER@br.co.jp” as the destinatione-mail address. Among the plurality of telephone numbers the FAXrelaying server 1 can use, “05276-5432” is assigned to the networkfacsimile device 2, which is stored in the network facsimile device 2.

Further, it is assumed that the network facsimile device 3 uses the FAXrelaying server 1 as the SMTP server 1 as the SMTP server fortransmitting e-mail. The network facsimile device 3 stores e-mailaddresses “IFAX2@br.co.jp” as its own e-mail address and“FAX_SERVER@ibr.co.jp” as the destination entail address. Among theplurality of telephone numbers the FAX relaying server 1 can use,“052-1234567” is assigned to the network facsimile device 3, which isstored in the network facsimile device 3.

The e-mail addresses and the telephone numbers of the network facsimiledevices 2 and 3 are assigned by the FAX relaying server 1. The FAXrelaying server 1 has a e-mail address management table (see FIG. 17A),in which the telephone number, e-mail addresses, IP addresses assignedto the network facsimile devices 2 and 3, and room numbers in which thenetwork facsimile devices 2 and 3 are located area stored in a relatedmanner.

Hereinafter, a facsimile transmission procedure of the network facsimilesystem according to the embodiment will be described with being premisedon the above settings.

The facsimile transmission procedure includes a network facsimile deviceside transmission procedure, which is executed by each network facsimiledevice 2 (3), and a FAX relaying server side transmission procedure,which is executed by the FAX relaying server 1.

The network facsimile device side transmission procedure will bedescribed. FIGS. 4 through 7 show a flowchart illustrating the networkfacsimile device side transmission procedure executed in the networkfacsimile device. In the flowchart, messages displayed on the LCD 34 atrespective steps are indicated.

When the network facsimile device side transmission procedure isstarted, the network facsimile device 2 operates in a standby state inwhich the network facsimile device 2 can acquire setting of an original(S10). At this stage, as shown on right-hand side of S10, no messagesare displayed on the LCD 34 (L10). When the user of the networkfacsimile device 2 sets the original, the network facsimile device 2operates to acquire input of the telephone number of the destinationstation (S20). As the user inputs the telephone number through theoperation panel 33, the input numbers are displayed on the LCD 34 in theinput order (L20).

In S30, the network facsimile device 2 waits for depression of a STARTbutton. When the user depresses the START button on the operation panel33, the network facsimile device 2 changes the display on the LCD 34 to“Reading” (L30).

In S40, the network facsimile device 2 creates an e-mail address of thedestination station. In step S40, a description to be entered in a “Tofield” of the e-mail header is created based on the mail address“FAX_SERVER@@br.co.jp” of the FAC relaying server 1 and the telephonenumber input in S20. Specifically, in this embodiment, if the telephonenumber of the destination station is “00312345678”, the “To field” willbe created as follows: “To: FAX_SERVER@br.co.jp (FAX#0312345678)”.

Next, the network facsimile device 2 executes an original readingprocedure (S50) in which the original set in S10 is read with thescanner 31. The image data the scanner creates by reading the originalis then converted into a file having a predetermined format suitable asa file attached to an e-mail message (S60). It should be noted that theformat of the attached file can be any format as far as the format isusable in the FAX relaying server 1. In the embodiment, as an example,image data of a monochromatic image is converted into a TIFF formatfile, and image data of a color image is converted into a IPEG formatfile.

In S70, the network facsimile device 2 creates an e-mail message to betransmitted. The e-mail message created in S70 includes the “To field”created in S40 and the attached file converted in S60. An example ofcontents of such an e-mail message is shown in FIG. 18. It should benoted that the contents of the e-mail message and format thereof neednot be limited, and various types of description/formats can be used asfar as the FAX relaying server 1 can handle the entail message.

In S80, the network facsimile device 2 displays a message indicatingthat the telephone number is being dialed (i.e., “Dialing”) on the LCD34 (LA0). Then, the network facsimile device 2 starts transmitting theentail (S90) according to the SMTP using the FAX relaying server 1 asthe SMTP server. When the e-mail message created in S70 has beentransmitted in S90, the process for transmitting the entail is finished(S100).

When S100 is finished, control proceeds to S110 (FIG. 5), where thenetwork facsimile device 2 changes its operation status in a receptionstandby mode in which mode the facsimile device 2 is ready to receive anotification of start of a dial transmission from the FAX relayingserver 1 (S110). The notification of the start of the dial transmissionis one kind of status data which is transmitted in order to notify theinformation regarding the operational status in the FAX relaying server1 to the network facsimile device 2. When the dial transmission startnotification is received, the network facsimile device 2 can recognizewhether the a call is started at the first time, or the call by aredialing function is being made. It should be noted that, according tothe embodiment, from the FAX relaying server 1 to the network facsimiledevice 2, a notification of the start of the dial transmission is sentby e-mail.

In S110, when the network facsimile device 2 has received the e-mailmessage, control judges whether the received e-mail message is thenotification from FAX relaying server 1 (S115). Specifically, controljudges whether the e-mail message received by the network facsimiledevice 1 is the notification from the FAX relaying server 1 based onwhether the e-mail address of the origin station of the received e-mailmessage is the e-mail address of the FAX relaying server 1. If controldetermines that the e-mail message is the notification from the FAXrelaying server 1 (S115: YES), controls judges whether the notificationcorresponds to the current communication (i.e., the communication fromthe network facsimile device 2 to the destination station outside thesystem) in S120. In the e-mail message the network facsimile device 2has received contains the telephone number of the destination stationwhich was contained in the entail message transmitted in S90. By judgingwhether the telephone number is included or not, control judges whetherthe e-mail message is the notification regarding the currentcommunication.

If control determines that the e-mail message is the notification of thecurrent communication (S120: YES), control proceeds to S130.

If the e-mail message is not the notification from the FAX relayingserver 1 (S115: NO), or if the e-mail message is not the notificationregarding the current communication (S120: NO), control returns to S110,thereby the network facsimile device 2 operates in the standby state inwhich the network facsimile device 2 waits for receipt of thenotification of the start of the dial transmission.

In S130, control judges whether a redial is being carried out. Whetherthe redial is carried out or not is determined based on whether controlreturns to S130 after executing steps S220-S230 (which will be describedlater). When S130 is executed first time, control has not executedS220-S230, i.e., control determines that the current process is not aredialing process (S130: NO), and control proceeds to S150. If controlhas executed S220-S230 and returned to S130, it is determined that theredial is being carried out (S130: YES). In this case, the networkfacsimile device 2 displays the indication ‘Dialing’ in S140 (and L40).Step S140 is similar to S80. After control has executed S220-S230 andreturned to S130, the indication “Dialing” is not displayed on the LCD34, and since S140 is executed, the indication is displayed on the LCD34 again.

If control determines that redial is not being carried out (S130: NO) orexecutes S140, the operational state of the network facsimile device 2is changed to a standby state in which the network facsimile device 2waits for reception of FAX transmission start notification from the FAXrelaying server 1 (S150). The FAX transmission start notification is,similar to the dial transmission start notification, a kind of statusdata included in the data related to operational status of the FAXrelaying server 1, which is transmitted to the network facsimile device2. When the FAX transmission start notification is received, the networkfacsimile device 2 can recognize, regarding the operational status ofthe FAX relaying server 1, whether transmission of the facsimile data tothe destination outside the system is started, transmission error hasoccurred, or operates in the standby state for redialing. According tothis embodiment, the FAX transmission start notification is transmittedfrom the FAX relaying server 1 to the network facsimile device 2 bye-mail.

If the network facsimile device 2 receives the e-mail message in S150,control judges, in S160, whether the FAX relaying server 1 has startedtransmitting the facsimile data to the destination station outside thesystem, error has occurred or the FAX relaying server operates in astandby state for redialing based on the received e-mail message (i.e.,the FAX transmission start notification).

If control determines that the FAX relaying server 1 has startedtransmitting the facsimile data to the destination station outside thenetwork facsimile system (S160: START TRANSMITTING), control proceeds toS170 and displays an indication “Sending” on the LCD 34 (L50).

Next, the network facsimile device 2 operates in a standby state inwhich the network facsimile device 2 waits for reception of a FAXtransmission completion notification from the FAX relaying server 1(S180). The FAX transmission completion notification is, similar to theaforementioned dial transmission start notification and FAX transmissionstart notification, a kind of status data notifying the networkfacsimile device 1 of data related to the operational status of the FAXrelaying server 1. The network facsimile device 2 that has received theFAX transmission completion notification recognizes, regarding theoperational status of the FAX relaying server 1, whether the facsimiledata has been transmitted to the destination station outside the systemsuccessfully or a transmission error has occurred. It should be notedthat, according to the embodiment, the FAX transmission completionnotification is transmitted from the FAX relaying server 1 to thenetwork facsimile device 2 by e-mail.

FIG. 19 shows an example of the e-mail message the network facsimiledevice 2 receives from the FAX relaying server 1 in S180. In thisexample, regarding the transmission of the facsimile data form the FAXrelaying server 1 to the destination station outside the system,communication results information including a communication time, atransmitted number of pages, and a communication mode is written. Inpractice, the contents of the e-mail message can be modified in variousways as far as the contents can be processed by the FAX relaying server1.

If the network facsimile device 2 receives an e-mail message (i.e., FAXtransmission completion notification) in S180, control judges whetherthe FAX relaying sever 1 has successfully transmitted the facsimile datato the destination station outside the system or a transmission errorhas occurred based on the received notification (i.e., e-mail message)in S190.

If control determines that the facsimile transmission has been completedsuccessfully (S190: TRANSMITTED SUCCESSFULLY), registration of acommunication management is carried out (S200). At this stage, controlturns off the display on the LCD 34 (L60). After S200 is executed,control finishes the procedure shown in FIGS. 4-6.

If control determines that a transmission error has occurred (S190:TRANSMISSION ERROR; or SIISSION ERROR), indication of the transmissionerror is made for two seconds (S210). As shown in FIG. 6, a message“Sending Error” is displayed on the LCD 34 for two seconds (L70).Thereafter, control proceeds to S200 to register the communicationmanagement report (S200) and finishes the procedure shown in FIGS. 4-6.

In the communication management report, information received by the FAXtransmission completion notification and the like is stored. Byexecuting a print/display process of the management report, a report asshown in FIG. 28, which is an example of the management report, can beprinted and/or displayed. The network facsimile device 2 only exchangese-mail messages with the FAX relaying server 1. However, as thecommunication report, information which can be obtained only by the FAXrelaying server 1 is also registered with the communication managementreport. Thus, the communication management report similar to those ofthe normal facsimile machines which uses the PSTN 6 is registered withthe network facsimile device 2.

If it is judged that the redial is carried out (S160: REDIAL), controlproceeds to S220 of FIG. 7. In S170, the network facsimile device 2displays a message indicating that process is awaiting a redialing fortwo seconds. Specifically, process displays a message “Awaiting Redial”on the LCD 34 for two seconds (L80). Then, the network facsimile device2 sets the display of the LCD 34 to a normal sandy state display (S230).According to the embodiment, at this stage, the display of the LCD 34 isturned OFF (L90). After S230 is executed, control returns to S110 andsteps thereafter, which have been described above, will be repeated.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a flowchart illustrating the FAX relaying server sidetransmission procedure. When the FAX relaying server transmissionprocedure is started, the FAX relaying server 1 functions as the SMTPserver, and starts receiving an e-mail message transmitted from thenetwork facsimile device 2 using the SMTP (S310). When the FAX relayingserver 1 receives the entail message, it finishes the e-mail receivingprocess (S320). It should be noted that steps S310S320 correspond tosteps S90S100 executed in the network facsimile device 2.

Next, the FAX relaying server 1 extracts the telephone number of thedestination station from the contents of the received entail message(S330). The destination telephone number has been, as described above,incorporated in the “To field” of the entail message in S40 of FIG. 4.

The FAX relaying server 1 extracts the e-mail address of the originstation from the received e-mail message (S340). Then, using theextracted e-mail address as a key, the FAX relaying server 1 searchesthe e-mail address management table (see FIG. 17A) for the telephonenumber corresponding to the origin station e-mail address as the originstation telephone number (S350). For example, when the FAX relayingserver 1 has received an e-mail address from the network facsimiledevice 2, the origin station e-mail address extracted in S340 is“IFAX1@br.co.jp”. In S350, by searching the e-mail address managementtable (FIG. 17A) for the telephone number using the address“IFAX1@br.co.jp” as a key, the number “052-876-5432” is extracted as theorigin station telephone number.

Next, the FAX relaying server 1 decodes the facsimile transmission databased on the file attached to the received e-mail message (S360), andtransmits the dial transmission start notification <normal> (<normal>represents the content included in the notification) to the networkfacsimile device 2 (S370). The dial transmission start notification is,as described above, a kind of data transmitted to the network facsimiledevice 2 to send information related to the operational status of theFAX relaying server 1. In the embodiment, the dial transmission startnotification is an e-mail message to be received in S110 by the networkfacsimile device 2.

When the dial transmission start notification is transmitted, the FAXrelaying server 1 start dialing (S380). The FAX relaying server 1 iscapable of using a plurality of lines as connection lines to the PSTN 6,and one of the lines is selected so that the origin station telephonenumber extracted in S350 is a telephone number of a caller, and makes acall to the destination telephone number using the line selected inS330.

Control proceeds to S390, where the FAX relaying server 1 judges whetherthe line has been connected (S390). If it is determined that the line isconnected with the destination outside the system (S390: YES), the FAXrelaying server 1 transmits the FAX transmission start notification<start of transmission> to the network facsimile device 2 (S400). TheFAX transmission start notification is, as described above, a kind ofdata for transmitting information related to the operational status ofthe FAX relaying server 1, and is an e-mail message received by thenetwork facsimile device 2 in S150.

Next, the FAX relaying server 1 starts the facsimile transmission to thedestination station outside the system (S410). After the FAX relayingserver has finished the transmission in accordance with the facsimilecommunication protocol, it finishes the facsimile transmission (S420).Then, the FAX relaying server judges whether the facsimile transmissionhas completed successfully (S430).

If the facsimile transmission has been completed successfully (S430:YES), the FAX transmission completion notification <normal transmission>is transmitted to the network facsimile device (S440), and the procedureshown in FIGS. 8 and 9 is finished. If the facsimile transmission hasnot been completed successfully (S430: NO), the FAX relaying server 1transmits the FAX transmission completion notification <transmissionerror> to the network facsimile device 2 (S450) and finishes theprocedure. The FAX transmission completion notifications described aboveare, as aforementioned, kinds of data related to information onoperational status of the FAX relaying server 1 and is transmitted tothe network facsimile device 2. The notification is received by thenetwork facsimile device 2 in S180 of FIG. 6.

If control determines that the connection with the destination stationoutside the system has not been completed (S390: NO), control judgeswhether the number of redials is less than three or not (S460).

If the number of redials is less than three (S460: YES), the FAXrelaying server 1 transmits the FAX transmission start notification<redial> to the network facsimile device 2 (S470). Then, the FAXrelaying server 1 operates in a redial standby mode (S480) and stay inthis mode for five minutes. When five minutes have elapsed, the FAXrelaying server 1 transmits the dial transmission start notification<redial> to the network facsimile device 2 (S490). After S490 has beenexecuted, control returns to S380 to start dialing.

If, in S460, the number of redials is not less than three (S460: NO),the FAX relaying server 1 transmits the FAX transmission completionnotification <transmission error> (S500) to the network facsimile device2 and finishes the procedure shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

As described above, the network facsimile side transmission procedureand FAX relaying server side transmission procedure are executed inparallel, thereby the facsimile transmission procedure of the networkfacsimile system is realized and facsimile images can be transmittedform the network facsimile device 2 to the destination station outsidethe network facsimile system via the FAX relaying server 1.

Next, a facsimile reception procedure of the network facsimile systemaccording to the embodiment will be described. The facsimile receptionprocedure of the network facsimile system includes a network facsimiledevice side reception procedure executed in the network facsimile device2 and a FAX relaying server side reception procedure executed in the FAXrelaying server 1.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show a flowchart illustrating the network facsimiledevice side reception procedure. Beside some steps, exemplaryindications on the LCD 34 are illustrated.

When the network facsimile device side reception procedure is started,the network facsimile device 2 is, as shown in FIG. 10, operates in astate in which it acquires a FAX reception start notificationtransmitted from the FAX relaying server 1 (S1010). The FAX receptionstart notification is a kind of data which is transmitted to the networkfacsimile device 2 to send the operational status of the FAX relayingserver 1. When the FAX reception start notification is received, thenetwork facsimile device 2 recognizes that the FAX relaying server 1starts receiving the facsimile data transmitted form the origin stationoutside the network facsimile system. It should be noted that, accordingto the embodiment, the FAX reception start notification is transmittedfrom the FAX relaying server 1 to the network facsimile device 2 bye-mail. When step S1000 is started, no information is displayed on theLCD 34 (L110).

In S1010, if the network facsimile device 2 has received the e-mailmessage, control judges whether the received entail message is thenotification received from the FAX relaying server 1 (S1020).Specifically, control judges whether the e-mail message as received hasbeen transmitted from the FAX relaying server by examining whether theorigin address of the e-mail message the network facsimile device 2 hasreceived is the e-mail address of the FAX relaying server 1. Further, asa result of the decision in S1020, if control determines that thereceived e-mail message has been transmitted from the FAX relayingserver 1 (S1020: YES), control judges whether it is an appropriatereception start notification (S1030). Specifically, control judgeswhether the destination e-mail address indicated in the e-mail messagereceived by the network facsimile device is the e-mail address assignedto the network facsimile device 2, and whether the destination telephonenumber is equal to the telephone number assigned to the networkfacsimile device 2.

If the control determines that the received e-mail message is anappropriate notification indicting the start of reception (S1030: OK),control proceeds to S1040. If, in S1020, control determines that thereceived e-mail message is not the notification from the FAX relayingserver 1 (S1020: NO) or the received notification is not the appropriateone (S1030: NG), control finishes the procedure shown in FIGS. 9 through11.

In S1040, the network facsimile device 2 displays a message on the LCD34 to indicate that it receives data. That is, on the LCD 34, a message“Receiving” is displayed (L120). Then, control changes the operationalstatus of the network facsimile device 2 to a reception standby statusin which the network facsimile device 2 waits for receiving the FAXreception completion notification from the FAX relaying server 1(S1050). The FAX reception completion notification is a kind of datatransmitted to the network facsimile device 2 to transmit informationrelated to the operational status of the FAX relaying server 2. Thenetwork facsimile device 2, which has received the FAX receptioncompletion notification, recognizes whether the FAX relaying server 1has received the facsimile data successfully or an error has occurred.It should be noted that, according to this embodiment, the FAX receptioncompletion notification is transmitted from the FAX relaying server 1 tothe network facsimile device 2 by e-mail.

Next, the network facsimile device 2 functions as the SMTP server andstarts receiving the e-mail message transmitted form the FAX relayingserver 1 (S1060). When the network facsimile device 2 has received thee-mail message, it finishes receiving the e-mail message (S1070).

Then, the network facsimile device 2 judges, in S1080, whether the FAXrelaying server 1 has received the facsimile data from the originstation outside the network facsimile system or an error has occurredbased on the FAX reception completion notification received in S1050.

When it is recognized that an error has occurred (S1080: RECEPTIONERROR), control proceeds to S1090, where the network facsimile device 2displays an error message for two seconds (S1090). Specifically, inS1090, a message “Receiving Error” is displayed on the LCD 34 for twoseconds (L130).

If it is confirmed that the data has been received successfully (S1080:NORML RECEPTION), or S1090 of FIG. 11 is finished, control proceeds toS1100, where the network facsimile device 2 decodes the image dataattached to the received entail message (S1100), and prints out thedecoded image data (S1110). At this stage, control changes the messagedisplayed on the LCD 34 to a message “Printing” (S1140).

In S1120, regarding the received facsimile data, a communicationmanagement report is registered. At this stage, the network facsimiledevice 2 turns off the message on the LCD 34 (L150). When S1120 isexecuted, control finishes the procedure.

Next, FAX relaying server side reception procedure will be described.FIG. 12 shows a flowchart illustrating the FAX relaying side receptionprocedure. When the FAX relaying server side reception procedure isstarted, the FAX relaying server 1 starts receiving the facsimile datatransmitted from the origin station outside the network facsimile system(S1210).

In parallel with the reception of the facsimile data, the FAX relayingserver 1 extracts the e-mail address corresponding to a receptiontelephone number, through which the facsimile data is received, from themanagement table (S1220). The FAX relaying server 1 is capable of usinga plurality of lines as connection lines to the PSTN 6, and a pluralityof telephone numbers are assigned to the lines, respectively. When thefacsimile data is received, one of the plurality of telephone numbers isdesignated by the origin station outside the network facsimile system,and the designated number is referred to as the reception telephonenumber.

In S1220, using the reception telephone number as a key, controlsearches the e-mail address management table (FIG. 17A) and extracts theentail address which is related to the reception telephone number. Forexample, if the reception telephone number is “052-876-5432”, controlsearches the e-mail address management table (FIG. 17A) to find ane-mail address which is stored therein in relation to the telephonenumber same as the reception telephone number. In the above example, thee-mail address “IFAX1@br.o.jp” is extracted.

Then, the FAX relaying server 1 transmits the FAX reception startnotification to the network facsimile device 2 (S1230). The FAXreception start notification is, as aforementioned, a kind of statusdata transmitted to the network facsimile device 2 to transmitinformation related to the operation status of the FAX relaying server1. Specifically, the notification is an e-mail message which is receivedby the network facsimile device 2 in S1010.

While steps S1220-S1230 are executed, the facsimile data is keptreceived. After the facsimile data has been received, the FAX relayingserver 1 finishes the facsimile reception procedure (S1240). Whenreceived the facsimile data, the FAX relaying server 1 judges whetherthe facsimile data has been received successfully (S1250). If an errorhas occurred (S1250: RECEPTION ERROR), the FAX relaying server 1transmits the FAX reception completion notification <RECEPTION ERROR> tothe network facsimile device 2 (S1260). If the facsimile data has beensuccessfully received (S250: NORMAL RECEPTION), the FAX relaying server1 transmits the FAX reception completion notification <NORMAL RECEPTION>to the network facsimile device 2 (S1270). The FAX reception completionnotification is, as aforementioned, a kind of status data transmitted tothe network facsimile device 2 to transmit information related to theoperation status of the FAX relaying server 1. Specifically, thenotification is an e-mail message which is received by the networkfacsimile device 2 in S1050.

When S1260 or S1270 is executed, the FAX relaying server 1 converts thereceived facsimile data in e-mail format data (S1280). That is,regardless whether the end status of the received facsimile dataexamined in S1250 is successful or not (error), the received facsimiledata is converted in e-mail format data. With this conversion, iffacsimile data has been normally received in the beginning and error hasoccurs in a midway of its reception, the normally received portion ofthe received facsimile data can be converted into e-mail format data.

The FAX relaying serer 1 creates e-mail transmission data (S1290). Thedata created in S1290 is an e-mail message having the e-mail addressthat is extracted in S1220, and includes the facsimile data created inS1280 as its attached data. It should be noted that concrete contentsand format of the entail data can be arbitrarily determined as far as itcan be processed by the network facsimile device 2.

Next, the FAX relaying server 1 uses the network facsimile device 2 asthe SMTP server and starts transmitting the e-mail message (S1300).After transmitting the e-mail message created in S1290, control finishesthe entail transmitting process (S1310). Steps 1300-S1310 correspond tosteps S1060-S1070 executed in the network facsimile device 2. When S1310has been executed, control finishes this procedure.

The network facsimile side reception procedure and the FAX relayingserver side reception procedure are executed in parallel, and as aresult, the facsimile reception procedure by the network facsimilesystem is realized and the facsimile image transmitted from the originstation outside the network facsimile system to the network facsimiledevice 2 via the FAX relaying server 1 can be received.

It should be noted that, in the above-described facsimile transmissionprocedure/facsimile reception procedure by the network facsimile systemaccording to the embodiment, the notifications transmitted/receivedbetween the FAX relaying server 1 and the network facsimile device 2 arerealized by e-mail messages. The method need not be limited to such aconfiguration, and, if the similar information can betransmitted/received, notifications may be realized with another packetcommunication protocol.

In the description above, as an example of an e-mail message that isreceived in S180, the e-mail message of FIG. 19 is shown. This can bemodified such that the contents of the e-mail message shown in FIG. 19,i.e., the communication result information including the communicationtime, the number of pages of transmission, the communication mode may beobtained using the SNMP. If the SNMP is used, object IDs (OIDs) asindicated in FIG. 20 may be assigned to the respective pieces of resultinformation and stored in an MIB (Management Transformation Base), andby designating the OID using the SNMP to request for the designatedinformation so that respective pieces of information can be obtained.

In the description above, when the facsimile transmissionprocedure/facsimile reception procedure of the network facsimile systemare executed, both the FAX relaying server 1 and the network facsimiledevice 2 recognize the e-mail addresses and formation related to thetelephone numbers to be used each other. Strictly speaking, suchinformation is dynamically exchanged between the FAX relaying server 1and the network facsimile device 2, and as a result, both the FAXrelaying server 1 and the network facsimile device 2 recognizeconsistent information.

Specifically, information regarding the e-mail addresses and telephonenumbers to be used by the FAX relaying server 1 and the networkfacsimile device 2 is managed by the FAX relaying server 1, and isnotified to the network facsimile device 2. When such information isnotified by the FAX relaying server 1 to the network facsimile device 2,an IP address of the network facsimile device 2 is necessary when theFAX relaying device 1 communicates therewith through the LAN 4. Further,as will be described later, the number of the room in which the networkfacsimile device 2 is located will also be necessary. Such informationregarding individual network facsimile devices is dynamically obtainedor managed by the network facsimile devices and notified from thenetwork facsimile devices to the FAX relaying server 1.

Hereinafter, a registered information transmitting procedure forexchanging information as above will be described. FIG. 13 shows aflowchart illustrating the registered information transmitting procedureexecuted in the network facsimile device 2.

When the network facsimile device 2 is started up, the network facsimiledevice 2 obtains an IP address from a DHCP server (S2010). Since theDHCP server is well-known, it is omitted in FIG. 1. It should be notedthat the FAX relaying server 1 may have a function of the DHCP server.Alternatively, another server computer connected to the LAN 4 may havethe DHCP function. The DHCP server assigns an LP address that is notused by another node to the network facsimile device 1. However, if theDHCP server is configured to maintain a relationship between a node andthe EP, address assigned to the node for a certain period of time (e.g.,one or two days), even thought the network facsimile device 2 isrebooted one or more times within the period, the same IP address can beassigned to the network facsimile device 2. The IP addresses of thenetwork facsimile devices 2 and 3 may be assigned and fixed manually bythe system administrator. In view of a burden to the systemadministrator, however, it is preferable that the IP addresses may beautomatically assigned. Instead of the DHCP server, BOOTP (BOOTstrapProtocol), or APIPA (Automatic Private IP Addressing) may be used.

When obtaining the IP address, the network facsimile device 2 notifiesthe FAX relaying server 1 of the room number and the thus obtained EP,address (S 2020). At this point of time, the network facsimile device 2has not recognized the e-mail address etc. of the FAX relaying server 1.Therefore, in S2020, the facsimile device 2 notifies by a UDP broadcast.Specifically, it is determined that the FAX relaying server 1 and thenetwork facsimile device 2 perform the USP broadcast using apredetermined communication ports (“58***”; where each “*” represents anumeral) in advance, and as shown in FIG. 21, The network facsimiledevice 2 transmits packets to the FAX relaying server 1 using the UDPbroadcast. The packets as transmitted may include a version number ofsoftware of the network facsimile device 2, the room number and the IPaddress. In the example shown in FIG. 21, using a symbol “|” as adelimiter, a character string indicating the version number “A”, theroom number “1101” and the IP address “192.168.19.11” is indicated.

Next, the network facsimile device 2 operates in a stand-by state sothat it can acquire response to the UDP broadcast (S2030). If theresponse from the FAX relaying server 1 is received, the networkfacsimile device 2 operates in another standby state to acquirenotification of the registered information (S2040). The registeredinformation is the information regarding the e-mail address andtelephone number assigned to the network facsimile device 2 transmittedfrom the FAX relaying server 1. It should be noted that, in thisembodiment, the e-mail address and the telephone number are dynamicallyassigned, i.e., they are assigned in response to check-in/checkout withrespect to the mom where the network facsimile device 2 is located.Therefore, if the room is in the check-out state, the FAX relayingserver 1 notifies the network facsimile device 2 of null data as theregistered information. When S2040 is executed, the e-mail address hasnot been assigned to the network facsimile device 2. Therefore, thenotification in S2040 is performed using the SNMP.

When the registered information is received, the network facsimiledevice 2 executes registration of the received registered information(S2050). In this procedure, the network facsimile device 2 registers thereceived information with the memory so that it can be used in thefollowing process. Further, the network facsimile device 2 executesvarious settings for transmitting/receiving e-mail messages, using thenotified e-mail address. After the process in S2050, control returns toS2040. Thereafter, upon receipt of the registered information from theFAX relaying server 1, control executes S2050, thereby the informationregistered in the memory being updated and the latest information beingkept therein.

FIG. 14 shows a flowchart illustrating the registered informationtransmitting procedure executed in the FAX relaying server 1. When theprocedure shown in FIG. 14 starts, the FAX relaying server 1 receives anotification of the room number and IP address from the networkfacsimile device 2 (S2200). This notification is transmitted as thenetwork facsimile device executes step S2020.

Next, the FAX relaying server 1 judges whether the IP address includedin the received notification is a newly assigned EP address (S2210).Specifically, in S2210, control search the e-mail address managementtable (FIG. 17A) using the IP address included in the receivednotification as a key. If the EP address included in the receivednotification is not found, control determines that the received IPaddress is a new IP address. If the same IP address as received isincluded in the e-mail address management table, control determines thatthe IP address as received is not a new IP address.

If the received IP address is a new IP address (S2210: YES), the FAXrelaying server 1 extracts unused e-mail address and unused telephonenumber from a telephone number usage table (FIG. 17B), and sets thestatus of the extracted e-mail address and telephone number to “busy”(S2220). As shown in FIG. 17B, the telephone number usage table includesa plurality of pairs of e-mail address and telephone number, and aplurality of status flags are provided for respective pairs. In S2220,the unused e-mail address and telephone number whose status flag is“unused” are selected, and the flag is rewritten to “busy”.

Next, the FAX relaying server 1 newly registers the IP address and roomnumber notified in S2200 along with the unused e-mail address and unusedtelephone number extracted in S2220 in a related manner (S2230).

When step S2230 has been executed as above or the notified IP address isnot a new IP address (S2210: NO), the FAX relaying server 1 issues aresponse notification (S2240). The response notification will bereceived by the network facsimile device 2 in S2030. The FAX relayingserver 1 transmits, in S2250, the newly registered e-mail address andtelephone number in S2230 to the IP address notified in S2200, andfinishes the procedure. This notification will be received by thenetwork facsimile device 2 in S2040, and as described above, thenotification is made using the SNMP.

The registered information transmitting procures executed by the FAXrelaying server 1 and the network facsimile device 2 have beendescribed. In addition to the above procedures, in the FAX relayingserver 1, in accordance with the check-in and checkout with respect toeach hotel room, an updating procedure for updating the e-mail addressmanagement table, telephone usage table and check-in management table isexecuted.

FIG. 15 shows a flowchart showing a check-in updating procedure at atime of check-in with respect to a hotel room. When a clerk of the hotelperforms an operation, on the FAX relaying server side, to register thecheck-in with respect to a hotel room in response to the check-in of auser, and the status flag of the check-in management table (FIG. 17C) isupdated to indicate “check-in”, the check-in updating procedure isexecuted for the room of which the status flag has been updated.

When the check-in updating procedure is started, the FAX relaying server1 extracts an unused e-mail address and unused telephone number from thetelephone number status table (FIG. 17B), and set the status flag of theextracted e-mail address and telephone number to “busy” (S2310). Thisprocess is similar to step S2220. That is, in the telephone numberstatus table, a pair of e-mail address and telephone numbercorresponding to a status flag of “unused” are extracted, and the statusflag is rewritten to “busy”.

Next, the FAX relaying server 1 registers the unused e-mail address andunused telephone number extracted in S2310 with the e-mail addressmanagement table 17A of the room which is checked in (S2320). The numberof the room which is checked-in is the number corresponding to thestatus flag of the check-in management table (FIG. 17C) having beenchanged to “check-in”. Using the room number as a key, control searchesthe e-mail address management table (FIG. 17A) to detect the e-mailaddress, and in the areas of telephone number and e-mail address of thee-mail address management table corresponding to the detected roomnumber, the unused e-mail address and telephone number are stored.

The FAX relaying server 1 transmits a notification including the e-mailaddress and telephone number registered with the e-mail addressmanagement table (FIG. 17A) in S2320 to the IP address corresponding tothe “checked in” room number of the e-mail address management table(S2330), and finishes the procedure. This notification will be receivedby the network facsimile device 2 in S2040, and as aforementioned, theSNMP is used.

With the above check-in updating procedure, in response to a check-in ofa user, the FAX relaying server 1 dynamically assigns an e-mail addressand a telephone number to the network facsimile device 2 located in theroom subject to be checked-in.

FIG. 16 shows a flowchart showing a checkout updating procedure at atime of checkout. When a clerk of the hotel performs an operation, onthe FAX relaying server side, to register the check-out with respect toa hotel room in response to the check-out of a user, and the status flagof the check-in management table (FIG. 17C) is updated to indicate“check-out”, the check-out updating procedure is executed for the roomof which the status flag has been updated.

When the checkout updating procedure is started, the FAX relaying server1 extracts the e-mail address and telephone number from the Ee addressmanagement table (FIG. 17B) for the room subjected to the check-out(S2410). The room number of the checked out is a room numbercorresponding to the flag “checkout” in the check-in management table(FIG. 17C). Using the room number as a key, control searches the e-mailaddress management table (FIG. 17A), and when the room number isdetected, from the corresponding areas, the e-mail address and telephonenumber having been assigned thereto are extracted.

Next, the FAX relaying server 1 detects the e-mail address and telephonenumber corresponding to the check-out room in the telephone number usagetable (FIG. 17B) and set the status information thereof to “unused”(S2420). That is, the telephone number usage table stores pairs oftelephone number and e-mail address. When the pair of the checkouttelephone number and e-mail address are detected, the stats flagcorresponding to the pair is rewritten to “unused”.

Then the FAX relaying server 1 deletes the e-mail address and telephonenumber of the e-mail address management table (FIG. 17B) correspondingto the room subject to the checkout (S2430). Since the e-mail addressand telephone number to be deleted in the e-mail address managementtable have been detected in S2410, control simply deletes the e-mailaddress and telephone number as detected. As a result, in the e-mailaddress management table, only the IP address and room number remain andthe areas for the e-mail address and telephone number corresponding tothe room subject to check-out, null data is stored. It should be notedthat, instead of deleting the e-mail address and telephone number fromthe e-mail address management table, status flags for the e-mail addressand telephone number are employed and setting the flags to “invalid”,the process similar to S2430 can be realized.

Next, the FAX relaying server 1 transmits a notification indicating nulle-mail address and telephone number to the IP address of the roomsubject to check-out (S2440), and finishes the procedure. Thenotification will be received in S2040 by the network facsimile device2, and as aforementioned, transmitted using the SNMP.

With the above-described check-out updating procedure, the e-mailaddress and telephone number assigned to the network facsimile device 2located in the room subject to the check out can by dynamically deletedin response to the check-out by the user.

As described above, the communication setting between the FAX relayingserver 1 and the network facsimile device 2 (3) is made in associationwith the check-in procedure of the user of the room in which the networkfacsimile device is located. Therefore, when the check-in procedure hasnot been finished, the FAX relaying server 1 may not have assigned thee-mail address and telephone number to the network facsimile device 2(3). In such a case, the network facsimile devices may not store thee-mail address and telephone number to be used, of may store invalidinformation. It could rarely happen that the e-mail address andtelephone number stored therein may be deleted due to disorder of thenetwork facsimile device 2. It is preferable that, in such a case, thenetwork facsimile device 2 (3) does not acquire the facsimiletransmission from another communication terminal.

In order to cope with the above problem, the following procedure may beimplemented. Control judges whether the communication settings are madeappropriately in the network facsimile side transmission procedure at anearly stage, e.g., when the destination telephone number is acquired inS20 or the depression of the start button is detected in S30. Then, ifthe appropriate communication settings have not been made, control maydisplay an error message or outputs an alarm sound so that the user ofthe communication terminal can recognize immediately. It would beconvenient if a message indicating the user how to deal with theproblem, for example, a message indicting the user to contact the systemadministrator (e.g., the clerk of the hotel).

There would occur some error condition on the FAX relaying server side.For example, the sender's e-mail address of the e-mail message receivedfrom the network facsimile device 2 (3) is not valid in the e-mailaddress management table, the check-in management table corresponding tothe room number is not set to “check-in”, or in the telephone numberusage table, the telephone number corresponding to the entail addressmay not be set to “busy”. When some error as above is detected, a systemerror has occurred or an entail message has been transmitted from adevice other than the regular network facsimile device 2 (3). It is alsopreferable, in such a case, that the facsimile transmission will not beacquired (or forcibly terminated) when an error is detected, forexample, in S310, S340 or S350. It would further be convenient if amessage indicating the user to contact the system administrator (e.g.,the clerk of the hotel).

The foregoing is a case where the facsimile transmission is made fromthe network facsimile system according to the embodiment. When afacsimile message is received, since the origin station outside thenetwork facsimile system can designate any possible telephone number.Therefore, the telephone number used for transmitting facsimile data,which is received by the FAX relaying server 1, may be the number whichhas not been set to be used for receiving the facsimile transmission.

For example, according to the embodiment, the settings for communicationbetween the FAX relaying server 1 and network facsimile device 2 (3) arereleased in association with the chock-out procedure of the user of therooms in which the facsimile devices 2 and 3 are implemented. When acall as above is received, if the communication settings are released,problems as follow could occur: (1) an e-mail address corresponding tothe telephone number of the line received the call is not appropriatelystored in the e-mail address management table (i.e., the memory iscleared, or a flag indicates that the memorized number is invalid; (2)the room corresponding to the line through which the call is received isnot set to “check-in” status in the check-in management table.

The above erroneous condition may occur when the telephone numberdesignated by the origin station is the number used by a user beforehe/she checked out the hotel room. Therefore, if such a condition occurswhen S3210 is executed, it is preferable to reject the call. If thecondition occurs after S3210, it is preferable to disconnect the lineimmediately when the problem in the designated telephone number isdetected, or not to receive the facsimile transmission.

As described above, according to the network facsimile device 2configured as above, it is possible to notify that, during the entireperiod from the start of transmission by the network facsimile device 2to the completion of the transmission by the FAX relaying server 1, theprogression of the operation by the network facsimile system.

In particular, since the network facsimile device 2 receives the statusdata from the FAX relaying server 1 and notify the operational status ofthe network facsimile system, it is possible to notify the user of thecommunication terminals of the progression of the operation in detail.

Further, according to the network facsimile system, the origin stationoutside the system can transmit the facsimile image to a desired networkfacsimile device among the various devices of the network facsimilesystem only by inputting the telephone number, similarly to the normalfacsimile machine. Therefore, for the user of the origin station outsidethe system, no preparation for the network facsimile system isnecessary, and it is not necessary to consider the existence of the FAXrelaying server or the network system, and the facsimile image can besent to the network facsimile device as if it is sent to the normalfacsimile machine.

Further, according to the network facsimile system described above, whena facsimile image is transmitted from a predetermined network facsimiledevice among a plurality of network facsimile devices, if the facsimileimage is transmitted to the destination station outside the networkfacsimile system from the FAX relaying server 1, a telephone numberassigned to the predetermined network facsimile device is used withoutany specific operation therefor. Accordingly, if different networkfacsimile device is used, although the same relaying server is used, thedestination station received the facsimile transmission through adifferent telephone number. Thus, for the user of the destinationstation, the network facsimile devices are similar to the normalfacsimile machines which have different telephone numbers. Therefore,the user of the outside destination station need not think about theexistence of the FAX relaying server 1 or the network system itself, andthe facsimile image can be received as if it is transmitted form thenormal facsimile machine.

Further, according to the network facsimile device described above, whena user of each hotel room makes the check-in procedure and is allowed touse the network facsimile device implemented in the room, the networkfacsimile device is configured, in association with the check-inprocedure, such that it can transmit/receive facsimile images throughthe FAX relaying server. Therefore, even if the FAX relaying server 1cannot receive the facsimile image, or if the FAX relaying server 1 canreceive the facsimile image but the network facsimile device cannotreceive the facsimile image before the user is allowed to used thenetwork facsimile device, once the user has finished the check-inprocedure and authorized to use the network facsimile device, the usercan receive/transmit the facsimile images using the network facsimiledevice 2.

Second Embodiment

Hereinafter, a network facsimile system according to a second embodimentwill be described. Since the configuration of the second embodiment isclose to the first embodiment, in the following description, differentportions will be described in detail and portions of the secondembodiment having the configuration similar to the first embodiment willbe omitted.

In the first embodiment, the facsimile data transmitted by the originstation outside the network facsimile system is received by the FAXrelaying server 1, which converts the received facsimile data into anentail message and transmits the evil message to the network facsimiledevice 2. Since the FAX relaying server 1 and the network facsimiledevice 2 can exchange electronic data using a predeterminedcommunication protocol. Therefore, the FAX relaying server 1 and thenetwork facsimile device 2 can exchange data in accordance with acommunication protocol other than the e-mail communication protocol.

In the second embodiment, as an example using a protocol other than thee-mail communication protocol for transmitting data, a method using anLPR protocol which is generally used in network printers is used fortransmitting the data from the FAX relaying server to the networkfacsimile device 2 will be described. In this system according to thesecond embodiment, the FAX relaying server 1 transmits a print requestto the network facsimile device 2 using the LPR protocol, while thenetwork facsimile device 2 waits for arrival of the print request usingthe LPD protocol. With this configuration, the between the FAX relayingserver 1 and the network facsimile device 2, a data transmission can beexecuted.

Firstly, referring to FIG. 22, a network facsimile device side receivingprocedure will be described. In FIG. 22, corresponding to steps of theflowchart, messages displayed on the LCD 34 are also indicated.

When the network facsimile device side receiving procedure is started,the network facsimile device 2 operates in a standby state where itwaits for receipt of the facsimile reception start notification from theFAX relaying server 1 (S3010). The FAX reception start notification issimilar to the notification which is received by the network facsimiledevice in S1010 (first embodiment). The user of the network facsimiledevice 2 that has received the facsimile reception start notificationcan recognize that the FAX relaying server 1 starts receiving thefacsimile data that is transmitted from the origin station outside thenetwork facsimile system. It should be noted that when S3010 is started,no messages are displayed on the LCD 34 (S210).

Next, the network facsimile device 2 displays a message indicating thatdata is being received (S3020). That is, a message “Receiving” isdisplayed on the LCD 34 (L220). Next, the network facsimile deviceoperates in a standby state where the network facsimile device 2 waitsfor reception of the FAX reception completion notification from the FAXrelaying server 1 (S3030). The facsimile reception completionnotification is a notification similar to that the network facsimiledevice 2 receives in S1050 in the first embodiment. The user of thenetwork facsimile device 2 that has received the facsimile receptioncompletion notification can recognize whether the FAX relaying server 1has received the data successfully or a reception error has occurred.

Next, the network device 2 waits for the print request using the LPDprotocol and start receiving the LPR data transmitted from the FAXrelaying server 1 (S3040). When the LPR data is received, the networkfacsimile device 2 finishes receiving the LPR data (S3050).

Then, in S3060, the network facsimile device 2 judges whether the FAXrelaying server 1 has received the facsimile data from the originstation outside the network facsimile system successfully or an errorhas occurred based on the FAX reception completion notification receivedin S3030.

If it is determined that the reception error has occurred (S3060:RECEPTION ERROR), the network facsimile device 2 displays an errormessage for two seconds (S3070). Specifically, on the LCD 34, a message“Receiving Error” is displayed for two seconds (L230).

If it is determined that the facsimile data has been receivedsuccessfully (S3060: NORMAL RECEPTION), or step S3070 has been finished,the network facsimile device 2 prints out the LPD data (S3080). At thisstage, the network facsimile device 2 displays a message “Printing” onthe LCD 34 (L240).

Next, regarding the reception of the facsimile data, a communicationmanagement report is registered (S3090). At this stage, the networkfacsimile device 2 turns of the display on the LCD 34 (L250). AfterS3090 is executed, control finishes the procedure.

FIG. 23 shows a flowchart illustrating the FAX relaying server sidereception procedure. When the FAX relaying server side receptionprocedure is started, the FAX relaying server 1 starts receiving thefacsimile data transmitted form the origin station outside the networkfacsimile system (S3210).

In parallel with the reception of the facsimile data, the FAX relayingserver 1 extracts an e-mail address corresponding to the telephonenumber of the line through which the facsimile data is being transmittedfrom the entail address management table (S3220). As described above inthe first embodiment, the FAX relaying server 1 is capable of using aplurality of lines as connection lines to the PSTN 6, a plurality oftelephone numbers being prepared for the plurality of connection lines.When facsimile data is received, one of the plurality of telephonenumbers is designated by the origin station outside the networkfacsimile system, and a call is made to the designated telephone number.In S3220, control searches the e-mail address management table (FIG.17A) using the telephone number at which the FAX relaying server 1 hasreceived the facsimile data from the origin station outside the networkfacsimile system to lined the e-mail address corresponding to thetelephone number.

Next, the FAX relaying server 1 transmits a FAX reception startnotification to the network facsimile device 2 (S3230). The FAXreception start notification will be received by the network facsimiledevice 2 in S3010.

While steps S3220-S3230 are executed, the facsimile data is keptreceived. After completion of the reception, the FAX relaying server 1finishes the facsimile receiving process (S3250). When the facsimiledata has been received, the FAX relaying server 1 judges the completionstatus of the reception of the facsimile data (S3250). If a receptionerror has occurred (S3250: RECEPTION ERROR), the FAX relaying server 1transmits the FAX reception completion notification <RECEPTION ERRORS tothe network facsimile device 2 (S3260). If the facsimile data has beenreceived successfully (S3250: NORMAL RECEPTION), the FAX relaying server1 transmits the FAX reception completion notification <NORMAL RECEPTION>to the network facsimile device 2 (S3270). The FAX reception completionnotification will be received by the network facsimile device 2 inS3030.

When S3260 or S3270 has been finished, the FAX relaying server 1converts the received facsimile data into the LPR data (S3280). That is,regardless whether the end status of the reception of the facsimile datais the “normal reception” or “reception error”, the received facsimiledata is converted into the e-mail format.

Then, the FAX relaying server 1 start transmitting the LPR data usingthe LPR protocol (S3290). When the LPR data has been transmitted, theFAX relaying server 1 finished s the LPR data transmitting process(S3300). Steps S3290-S3300 correspond to steps S30403050 which are thenetwork facsimile device side processes. When S3300 is finished, controlfinishes the procedure.

The network facsimile side reception procedure and the FAX relayingserver side reception procedure are executed in parallel, thereby thefacsimile reception procedure of the network facsimile system accordingto the embodiment being realized. The network facsimile system receivesthe facsimile image transmitted from an origin station outside thesystem to the network facsimile device 2 via the FAX relaying server 1,and prints out the received image.

Third Embodiment

Hereinafter, a network facsimile system according to a third embodimentof the invention will be described. In the third embodiment, the FAXrelaying server 1 is configured such that a plurality of facsimiletransmission requests from a plurality of network facsimile devices arehandled parallelly (i.e., simultaneously).

Specifically, the FAX relaying server 1 employs a multi-task OS, andwith the function of the multi-task OS, the FAX relaying server 1 iscapable of executed a plurality of tasks parallelly in a time-sharingmanner. According to the third embodiment, the SMTP reception module 51(see FIG. 3) is configured to have plurality of similar tasks eachexecutes an e-mail receiving process. With this configuration, the FAXrelaying server 1 is capable of receiving a plurality of e-mail messagesrespectively transmitted from a plurality of network facsimile devices.Further, the FAX communication management module 52 (see FIG. 3)includes a plurality of similar tasks each executing a facsimiletransmission process. Thus, a plurality of pieces of facsimile data canbe transmitted simultaneously to destinations outside the networkfacsimile system.

Since such a configuration is employed, when there is a facsimiletransmission request by a first network facsimile device IFAX1 and theFAX relaying server 1 receives an e-mail message from the first networkfacsimile device IFAX1 (i.e., e-mail 1 in FIG. 24), and thereafter,another facsimile transmission (i.e., FAX transmission 1 in FIG. 24) isto be executed, if another facsimile transmission request is receivedfrom a second network facsimile device IFAX2 during the facsimiletransmission (i.e., FAX transmission 1 in FIG. 24), the FAX relayingserver 1 is capable of receiving the e-mail message from the networkfacsimile device IFAX2 by creating another task (i.e. e-mail 2 in FIG.24). Thus, although the FAX relaying server 1 is transmitting facsimiledata, the network facsimile device IFAX2 can send the e-mail to the FAXrelaying server 1 and completes the transmission.

Further, if the FAX relaying server 1 receives an e-mail message fromthe network facsimile device IFAX2 (i.e., e-mail 2 in FIG. 24) beforethe previously started facsimile transmission (i.e., fax 1 in FIG. 24)has not been completed, the FAX relaying server 1 can execute aplurality of facsimile transmitting processes parallelly by creatinganother task (e.g., fax 1 and fax 2 in FIG. 24).

Among processes realizing the above system according to the thirdembodiment, a procedure provided by a task that functions as the SMTPreception module 51 will be described. FIG. 25 shows a flowchartillustrating the procedure executed by the task serving as the SMTPreception module 51.

When the procedure shown in FIG. 25 is started, the task (hereinafter,referred to as an SMTP reception task) functions as the SMTP receptionmodule 51 of the FAX relaying server 1 waits until an e-mail message istransmitted from the network facsimile device 2 using the SMT7 (S4010).When the e-mail message has been arrived, the SMTP reception task startsreceiving the e-mail message (S4020). When the e-mail message has beenreceived, the task finishes the e-mail receiving process (S4030).

Next, the SMTP reception task extracts the destination telephone numberfrom the received entail message (S4040). The SMTP reception task alsoextracts an e-mail address of the origin station from the receivede-mail message (S405). Then, using the e-mail address as a key, the SMTPreception task searches the re-mail address management table (FIG. 17A)and extracts a telephone number corresponding to the origin statione-mail address as the origin station telephone number (S4060). StepsS40404060 are similar to S330S350 of the first embodiment. The dataobtained during execution of S4040-S4060 is stored in the transmissiondata DB 61, which can be used by a task which functions as the FAXcommunication management module 52.

The SMTP reception task notifies the facsimile communication managementmodule 52 of the facsimile transmission start MSG (S4070), and finishesthe procedure. The FAX transmission start message is informationtransmitted, using inter-task communication function, to the taskfunctions as the FAX communication management module 52. When the FAXtransmission start MSG is received, a task that functions as the FAXcommunication management module 52 starts the process to be executed.

FIGS. 26 and 27 show a flowchart illustrating a procedure executed by atask serving as the facsimile communication management module 52. One ofthe tasks functioning as the FAX communication management module 52(hereinafter, referred to as a FAX communication management task) waitsuntil the FAX transmission MSG is notified (S4210). Then, the FAXcommunication management task receives the FAX transmission startnotification MSG (S4220).

Then, the FAX communication management task decodes the facsimiletransmission data (S4330), and transmits a dial transmission startnotification <NORMAL> to the network facsimile device 2 (S4340).

After transmitting the dial transmission start notification, the FAXcommunication management task starts dialing (S4350). The FAX relayingserver 1 is capable of a plurality of lines as connection lines to thePSTN 6. In this embodiment, one of the plurality of lines is selectedsuch that the origin station telephone number extracted by the SMTPreception task in S4040 is a caller's telephone number, and via theline, and a call is made to the destination station telephone numberwhich has been extracted in S4040 by the SMTP reception task.

Control then proceeds to S4360 (FIG. 27), and the FAX communicationmanagement task judges whether the line connection has been completed(S4360). If the FAX communication management task determines that theconnection with the destination station outside the network facsimilesystem has established (S4360: YES), the FAX communication managementtask transmits the FAX transmission start notification <STRATTRANSMISSION> to the network facsimile device 2 (S4370).

Then, the FAX communication management task starts the facsimiletransmission to the destination station outside the network facsimilesystem (S4380). When the transmission according to the facsimilecommunication protocol is finished, the FAX communication managementtask finishes the facsimile transmission process (S4390). Then, in 4400,the FAX communication management task judges whether the facsimiletransmission has finished successfully.

If the facsimile transmission has been finished successfully (S4400:YES), the FAX communication management task transmits the FAXtransmission completion notification <NORMAL TRANSMISSION> (S4410), andfinishes the procedure. If the facsimile transmission has notsuccessfully finished (S4400: NO), the FAX communication management tasktransmits the FAX transmission completion notification <TRANSMISSIONERROR> (S4420) and finishes the present procedure.

If it is determined that the connection with the destination stationoutside the network facsimile system has not been established (S4360:NO), control judges whether the number of redialing is less than three(S4440).

If the number of redialing is less than tree (S4440: YES), the FAXcommunication management task transmits the FAX transmission startnotification <redial> to the network facsimile device 2 (S4450). Then,the operational status is changed to the redial standby state where theFAX communication management task pauses before the redialing isexecuted (S4460). When a predetermined period (e.g., five minutes) haselapsed, the FAX communication management task transmits the dialtransmission start notification <redial> to the network facsimile device2 (S4470). After S4470 is finished, control returns to S4350 andrestarts dialing.

If the number of redialing is not less than three (S4440: NO), the FAXcommunication management task transmits the FAX transmission completionnotification <transmission error> (S4430), and finishes the currentprocedure.

With the cooperation of the SMTP reception task and FAX communicationmanagement task, the facsimile transmission procedure by the networkfacsimile system according to the third embodiment is realized, and thefacsimile image can be transmitted from the network facsimile device 2to the destination station outside the network facsimile system via theFAX relaying server 1. In particular, a plurality of SMTP receptiontasks and a plurality of FAX communication management tasks are executedin parallel with the multitask function, facsimile images can betransmitted in parallel (i.e., simultaneously) to a plurality ofdestination stations outside the network facsimile system from aplurality of network facsimile devices via the FAX relaying server.

It should be noted that the embodiments described above are exemplaryembodiments and the present invention need not be limited to theconfigurations of the above-described embodiments. Rather, theabove-described configurations can be modified in various ways withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention.

For example, in the embodiments, the telephone number of the destinationstation outside the network facsimile system is described in the “Tofield” of the e-mail header in order to transmits the telephone numberfrom the network facsimile device 2 to the FAX relaying server 1. Theportions at which the destination telephone number is described can bemodified in various ways as far as the FAX relaying server can processthe modified format. For example, the destination telephone number maybe described in the “Subject field” of the entail header, or describedin the body of the e-mail message.

In the above-described embodiments, between the FAX relaying server andthe network facsimile device 2, communication is made by e-mail.However, the invention need not be limited to such a configuration, andany communication protocol which allows the devices to communicationthrough the LAN 4 can be optionally or alternatively employed.

In the above described embodiments, when the telephone number that hasnot assigned to the network facsimile device 2 (3) is used as thereception telephone number, the call is rejected or the line is cut sothat the facsimile transmission is not received. In addition to therejection/disconnection, a further counter measure may be introduced.For example, it is preferable that the telephone number assigned to thenetwork facsimile device before the check-out procedure is done may beprevented from being assigned to any other network facsimile devicepredetermined period after the checkout procedure is done. With such acontrol, when a telephone number is assigned to a network facsimiledevice when the check-in procedure is done, the telephone number can beselected from among the numbers which have not been used for a while. Insuch a case, even if a facsimile transmission is made to the user whohas already made check-out procedure, the facsimile transmission willnot received by the network facsimile device assigned to another user.Thus, the privacy of the user who has already checked out can be heldsecurely. The duration in which the reuse of the telephone number isprevented may; be determined depending on the total number of availabletelephone numbers and the total number of the network facsimile devicesincluded in the network facsimile system. In view of the protection ofprivacy, it may be necessary to determine the duration relatively long,and reuse of such a telephone number may be prevented for six moths, forexample; by setting the status of the telephone number to “busy” or“protected” in the table.

In the embodiments, it is described that the network facsimile devicesare general purpose devices so that they can connect to the PSTN 6. Itis of course possible to use dedicated facsimile devices without themodem 24 and the circuit control unit 43.

Further, in the embodiments, the connection status is indicated bydisplaying messages on the LCD 34. Alternatively or optionally, aspeaker may be provided to notify the user of the communication statuswith voice messages or alarm sounds.

Furthermore, in the above described embodiments, as the facsimiledevices outside the network facsimile system, G3 facsimile machines 7and 8 are indicates as examples. Alternatively or optionally, 04facsimile machines or other type of facsimile machines can be used.

In the above-described embodiments, the network facsimile devices 2 and3 having fundamental configuration as a facsimile machine are used asthe facsimile device of the network facsimile system. However, theinvention need not be limited to such a configuration. Any type ofdevice that can function as a communication terminal in the networkfacsimile system can be used even if it has different configuration incomparison with the facsimile devices 2 and 3. For example, amultifunction device having printer function, scanner function, copierfunction in addition to the facsimile function may be employed in thenetwork facsimile system as its communication terminal

Further, in the embodiments, the relaying server extracts the e-mailaddress or network address of the network facsimile device that receivesthe facsimile image transmitted to the network facsimile system based onthe reception telephone number. The invention can be applied to a systemin which the e-mail address or network address is derived based on andial-in number of ISDN system.

1. A communication terminal for a network facsimile system having thecommunication terminal and relaying server, the network facsimile systembeing configured such that the communication terminal is capable ofpreparing image data and transmitting an image, through the relayingserver, to a destination terminal which is outside the network facsimilesystem, that the communication terminal transmits the image to therelaying server in accordance with a predetermined communicationprotocol which is different from a facsimile communication protocol, andthat the relaying server transmits the image to the destination terminalin accordance with the facsimile communication protocol, thecommunication terminal comprising a notification system that notifies,during a relaying server side operation period, a user of thecommunication terminal of an operation status information indicating anoperation status in progress of the network facsimile system during therelaying server side operation period, which is defined as a time afteran image transmission from the communication terminal to the relayingserver has finished and before the end of transmission from the relayingserver to the destination terminal outside the network facsimile system,and a status data obtaining system that obtains status data indicativeof the operational status in progress of the relaying server from therelaying server, wherein the notification system notifies the user ofthe communication terminal of the operation status information during acommunication terminal side operation period, which is defined as a timeafter the communication terminal receives an image transmissioninstruction given by the user of the communication terminal till thecommunication terminal finishes transmitting the image to the relayingserver in accordance with the predetermined communication protocol,wherein the notification system notifies the user of the communicationterminal of the operation status information based on the operationaldata obtained by the status data obtaining system during the relayingserver side operation period, wherein the operation status informationincludes one of: redialing state information, sending state informationand transmission error information, wherein, during a time after thecommunication terminal starts to prepare the image data and before thecommunication terminal starts transmitting the image to the relayingserver with the predetermined communication protocol, the communicationterminal displays that the communication terminal is preparing the imagedata to be transmitted, wherein, during a time after the communicationterminal starts to transmit the image to the relaying server with thepredetermined communication protocol and before the communicationterminal receives a notice from the relaying server that the relayingserver has started a transmission to the destination terminal, thecommunication terminal displays that the network facsimile system isdialing the destination terminal, and wherein, during the time after thecommunication terminal receives a notice from the relaying server thatthe relaying server has started to transmit the image to the destinationterminal with the facsimile communication protocol and before thecommunication terminal receives a notice from the relaying server thatthe relaying server has completed the transmission to the destinationterminal, the communication terminal displays that the network facsimilesystem is sending the image to the destination terminal.
 2. Thecommunication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the notificationsystem notifies the user of the communication terminal of the operationstatus in progress of the communication terminal as the operation statusinformation during a communication terminal side operation period, whichis defined as a period after the communication terminal acquires theimage transmission instruction given by the user of the communicationterminal till the communication terminal finishes transmitting the imageto the relaying server in accordance with the predeterminedcommunication protocol.
 3. The communication terminal according to claim1, further comprising: a facsimile-mail creating system that creates afacsimile-mail message that is an e-mail message including the image tobe transmitted; and a facsimile-mail transmitting system that transmitsthe facsimile-mail message, which is created by the facsimile-mailcreating system, to the relaying server, wherein the image istransmitted to the relaying server by e-mail, the relaying serverincluding a facsimile-mail receiving system that receives thefacsimile-mail transmitted from the communication terminal, a facsimiledata creating system that creates facsimile data to be transmitted inaccordance with a facsimile communication protocol based on the imageincluded in the facsimile-mail received by the facsimile-mail receivingsystem, and a facsimile data transmitting system that transmits thefacsimile data created by the facsimile data creating system to thedestination outside the network facsimile system in accordance with thefacsimile communication protocol.
 4. The communication terminalaccording to claim 3, further including a status notification mailreceiving system that receives a status notification mail which is ane-mail message containing the status data when the status notificationmail is transmitted form the relaying server to the communicationterminal, wherein the status data obtaining system obtains the statusdata contained in the status notification mail when the origin of thestatus notification mail received by the status notification mailreceiving system is the relaying server that has transmitted thefacsimile-mail using the facsimile-mail transmitting system.
 5. Thecommunication terminal according to claim 4, wherein the facsimile-mailcreating system creates the facsimile-mail that includes informationbased on which the relaying server obtains the telephone number of thedestination outside the network facsimile system, and wherein the statusdata obtaining system obtains the status data contained in the statusnotification mail when the destination data is included in the statusnotification mail received by the status notification mail receivingsystem.
 6. The communication terminal according to claim 3, furtherincluding a status notification packet receiving system that receives astatus notification packet which is packet containing the status datawhen the status notification packet is transmitted form the relayingserver to the communication terminal, wherein the status data obtainingsystem obtains the status data contained in the status notificationpacket when the origin of the status notification packet received by thestatus notification packet receiving system is the relaying server thathas transmitted the facsimile-mail using the facsimile-mail transmittingsystem.
 7. The communication terminal according to claim 6, wherein thefacsimile-mail creating system creates the facsimile-mail that includesinformation based on which the relaying server obtains the telephonenumber of the destination outside the network facsimile system, andwherein the status data obtaining system obtains the status datacontained in the status notification packet when the destination data isincluded in the status notification packet received by the statusnotification packet receiving system.
 8. The communication terminalaccording to claim 1, wherein the notification system finishes notifyingthe operation status information after notifying the user of thecommunication terminal of the transmission completion informationindicating that a transmitting procedure by the network facsimile systemhas been finished as the operation status information when the relayingserver has finished transmitting the facsimile data based on the statusdata obtained by the status data obtaining system.
 9. The communicationterminal according to claim 8, wherein the notification system notifiesof the transmission completion information with a form indicatingwhether the transmission of the facsimile data by the relaying serverwas succeeded or failed.
 10. The communication terminal according toclaim 1, further comprising a communication result storing system thatstores a communication result including at least one of a communicationtime, a number of transmitted pages and a communication mode regardingthe transmission of the facsimile data from the relaying server to thedestination outside the network facsimile system when it is determinedthat the relaying server has finished transmitting the facsimile data,based on the status data obtained by the status data obtaining system.11. The communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein thenotification system notifies the user of the communication terminal of aredial standby information indicating the relaying system is in astandby state for redialing when it is determined, based on the statusdata obtained by the status data obtaining system, that the relayingserver is in the redial standby state.
 12. A relaying server for anetwork facsimile system having a communication terminal and therelaying server, the network facsimile system being configured such thatthe communication terminal is capable of transmitting an image, throughthe relaying server, to a destination terminal which is outside thenetwork facsimile system, that the communication terminal transmits theimage to the relaying server in accordance with a predeterminedcommunication protocol which is different from a facsimile communicationprotocol, and that the communication terminal instructs the relayingserver to transmit the image to the destination terminal in accordancewith the facsimile communication protocol, the relaying servercomprising a status data transmitting system that transmits, to thecommunication terminal during a relaying server side operation period,operation status information indicating an operational status inprogress of the relaying server during the relaying server sideoperation period, which is defined as a time after an image transmissionfrom the communication terminal to the relaying server has finished andbefore the end of transmission from the relaying server to thedestination terminal outside the network facsimile system, wherein, whena line connection between the relaying server and the destinationterminal is established, the relaying server sends a start transmissionnotice to the communication terminal that the relaying server isstarting the transmission to the destination terminal, wherein, when therelaying server stops transmitting to the destination terminal, therelaying server sends a stop transmission notice to the communicationterminal that the relaying server has stopped transmission, wherein auser of the communication terminal is notified of operation statusinformation during a communication terminal side operation period, whichis defined as a time after the communication terminal receives an imagetransmission instruction given by the user of the communication terminaltill the communication terminal finishes transmitting the image to therelaying server in accordance with the predetermined communicationprotocol, wherein the user of the communication terminal is notified,during the relaying server side operation period, of the operationstatus information transmitted by the status data transmitting systemduring the relaying server side operation period, and wherein theoperation status information transmitted by the status data transmittingsystem during the relaying server side operation period includes one of:redialing state information, sending state information and transmissionerror information.
 13. The relaying server according to claim 12,further including: a facsimile-mail receiving system that receives afacsimile-mail message which is an e-mail message including the image tobe transmitted; a facsimile data creating system that creates facsimiledata used for transmitting the image in accordance with a facsimilecommunication protocol based on the image contained in thefacsimile-mail received by the facsimile-mail receiving system; and afacsimile data transmitting system that transmits the facsimile datacreated by the facsimile data crating system to a destination outsidethe network facsimile system, wherein the facsimile-mail receivingsystem receives the image transmitted from the communication terminal,which is provided with a facsimile-mail creating system and afacsimile-mail transmitting system that transmits the facsimile-mailcreated by the facsimile mail creating system to the relaying server inaccordance with an e-mail communication protocol.
 14. The relayingserver according to claim 13, further including an origin extractingsystem that extracts an entail address of an origin contained in thefacsimile-mail received by the facsimile-mail receiving system, thestatus data transmitting system transmitting a status notification mailcontaining the status data to the e-mail address extracted by the originextracting system.
 15. The relaying server according to claim 13,further including a network address obtaining system that extracts ane-mail address contained in the facsimile-mail received by thefacsimile-mail receiving system and obtains a network address of theorigin based on the extracted e-mail address, the status datatransmitting system transmitting a status notification packet containingthe status data to the network address obtained by the network addressobtaining system.
 16. The relaying server according to claim 13, furtherincluding a destination data extracting system that extracts destinationdata related to a telephone number of the destination outside thenetwork facsimile system from the facsimile-mail received by thefacsimile-mail receiving system, the status data transmitting systemtransmitting the status data including the destination data extracted bythe destination data extracting system.
 17. The relaying serveraccording to claim 12, wherein the status data transmitting systemtransmits status data indicating whether transmission of the facsimiledata by the relaying server has been succeeded or failed.
 18. Therelaying server according to claim 12, wherein the status datatransmitting system transmits one of a communication time, a number oftransmitted pages and a communication mode regarding the transmission ofthe facsimile data to the destination outside the network facsimilesystem from the relaying server when the transmission of the facsimiledata has been completed.
 19. The relaying server according to claim 12,wherein the status data transmitting system transmits the status dataindicating that the relaying server operates in a redialing standbystate when the relaying server operates in the redial stand-by state.20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executableinstructions stored thereon, the instructions to be executed by acommunication terminal for a network facsimile system having thecommunication terminal and relaying server, the network facsimile systembeing configured such that the communication terminal is capable ofpreparing image data and transmitting an image, through the relayingserver, to a destination terminal which is outside the network facsimilesystem, that the communication terminal transmits an image to therelaying server in accordance with a predetermined communicationprotocol which is different from a facsimile protocol, and that therelaying server transmits an image to the destination terminal inaccordance with the facsimile communication protocol, thecomputer-executable instructions comprising: an instruction to cause thecommunication terminal to execute a notifying process for notifying,during a relaying server side operation period, a user of thecommunication terminal of an operation status information indicating anoperation status in progress of the network facsimile system during therelaying server side operation period, which is defined as a time afteran image transmission from the communication terminal to the relayingserver has finished and before the end of transmission from the relayingserver to the destination terminal outside the network facsimile systemwherein a user of the communication terminal is notified of theoperation status information during a communication terminal sideoperation period, which is defined as a time after the communicationterminal receives an image transmission instruction given by the user ofthe communication terminal till the communication terminal finishestransmitting the image to the relaying server in accordance with thepredetermined communication protocol, wherein the user of thecommunication terminal is notified of the operation status informationbased on the operational data obtained by the status data obtainingsystem during the relaying server side operation period, wherein theoperation status information includes one of: redialing stateinformation, sending state information and transmission errorinformation, wherein, during a time after the communication terminalstarts to prepare the image data and before the communication terminalstarts transmitting the image to the relaying server with thepredetermined communication protocol, the communication terminaldisplays that the communication terminal is preparing the image data tobe transmitted, wherein, during a time after the communication terminalstarts to transmit the image to the relaying server with thepredetermined communication protocol and before the communicationterminal receives a notice from the relaying server that the relayingserver has started a transmission to the destination terminal, thecommunication terminal displays that the network facsimile system isdialing the destination terminal, and wherein, during the time after thecommunication terminal receives a notice from the relaying server thatthe relaying server has started to transmit the image to the destinationterminal with the facsimile communication protocol and before thecommunication terminal receives a notice from the relaying server thatthe relaying server has completed the transmission to the destinationterminal, the communication terminal displays that the network facsimilesystem is sending the image to the destination terminal.
 21. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-executableinstructions stored thereon, the instructions to be executed by arelaying server for a network facsimile system having a communicationterminal and the relaying server, the network facsimile system beingconfigured such that the communication terminal is capable oftransmitting an image, through the relaying server, to a destinationterminal which is outside the network facsimile system, that thecommunication terminal transmits an image to the relaying server inaccordance with a predetermined communication protocol which isdifferent from a facsimile communication protocol, and that thecommunication terminal instructs the relaying server to transmit animage to the destination terminal in accordance with the facsimilecommunication protocol, the computer-executable instructions comprising:an instruction that causes the relaying server to execute a status datatransmitting process that transmits, to the communication terminalduring a relaying server side operation period, operation statusinformation indicating an operational status in progress of the relayingserver during the relaying server side operation period, which isdefined as a time after an image transmission from the communicationterminal to the relaying server has finished and before the end oftransmission from the relaying server to the destination terminaloutside the network facsimile system, wherein, when a line connectionbetween the relaying server and the destination terminal is established,the relaying server sends a start transmission notice to thecommunication terminal that the relaying server is starting thetransmission to the destination terminal, wherein, when the relayingserver stops transmitting to the destination terminal, the relayingserver sends a stop transmission notice to the communication terminalthat the relaying server has stopped transmission, wherein a user of thecommunication terminal is notified of the operation status informationduring a communication terminal side operation period, which is definedas a period after the communication terminal receives an imagetransmission instruction given by the user of the communication terminaluntil the relaying server completes transmitting the image to thecommunication terminal in accordance with the predeterminedcommunication protocol, wherein the user of the communication terminalis notified, during the relaying server side operation period, of theoperation status information transmitted by the status data transmittingsystem during the relaying server side operation period, and wherein theoperation status information transmitted by the status data transmittingsystem during the relaying server side operation period includes one of:redialing state information, sending state information and transmissionerror information.
 22. A network facsimile system having a communicationterminal and relaying server, the network facsimile system beingconfigured such that the communication terminal is capable of preparingimage data and transmitting an image, through the relaying server, to adestination terminal which is outside the network facsimile system, thatthe communication terminal transmits an image to the relaying server inaccordance with a predetermined communication protocol which isdifferent from a facsimile communication protocol, and that the relayingserver transmits an image to the destination terminal in accordance withthe facsimile communication protocol, the communication terminalcomprising a notification system that notifies, during a relaying serverside operation period, a user of the communication terminal of anoperation status information indicating an operation status in progressof the network facsimile system during the relaying server sideoperation period, which is defined as a time after an image transmissionfrom the communication terminal to the relaying server has finished andbefore the end of transmission from the relaying server to thedestination terminal outside the network facsimile system, wherein, whena line connection between the relaying server and the destinationterminal is established, the relaying server sends a start transmissionnotice to the communication terminal that the relaying server isstarting the transmission to the destination terminal, wherein, when therelaying server stops transmitting to the destination terminal, therelaying server sends a stop transmission notice to the communicationterminal that the relaying server has stopped transmission, wherein auser of the communication terminal is notified of the operation statusinformation during a communication terminal side operation period, whichis defined as a period after the communication terminal receives animage transmission instruction given by the user of the communicationterminal until the relaying server completes transmitting the image tothe communication terminal in accordance with the predeterminedcommunication protocol, wherein the user of the communication terminalis notified of the operation status information based on the operationaldata obtained by the status data obtaining system during the relayingserver side operation period, wherein the operation status informationincludes one of: redialing state information, sending state informationand transmission error information, wherein, during a time after thecommunication terminal starts to prepare the image data and before thecommunication terminal starts transmitting the image to the relayingserver with the predetermined communication protocol, the communicationterminal displays that the communication terminal is preparing the imagedata to be transmitted, wherein, during a time after the communicationterminal starts to transmit the image to the relaying server with thepredetermined communication protocol and before the communicationterminal receives a notice from the relaying server that the relayingserver has started a transmission to the destination terminal, thecommunication terminal displays that the network facsimile system isdialing the destination terminal, and wherein, during the time after thecommunication terminal receives a notice from the relaying server thatthe relaying server has started to transmit the image to the destinationterminal with the facsimile communication protocol and before thecommunication terminal receives a notice from the relaying server thatthe relaying server has completed the transmission to the destinationterminal, the communication terminal displays that the network facsimilesystem is sending the image to the destination terminal.